Higher education costs have skyrocketed in recent years. Adjusted for inflation, the average in-state tuition at public colleges and universities, once dependably affordable bastions for people seeking an undergraduate degree, has tripled over the last 30 years. During the same period, median wages have stagnated, but the value of a college degree, measured by future earnings, remains high.

As a result, students take on increasingly large student debt loads, but have less purchasing power when it’s time to start repaying them. Last month, the White House announced a targeted relief plan that will cancel up to $20,000 for eligible borrowers paying back loans held by the Department of Education.

This map graphically illustrates the enormous amount of student debt in the country, broken down by states, a figure that currently stands at $1.6 trillion, more than the GDP of most of the world’s nations.

*Washington, D.C. would be #1 for both metrics ($54,945 and 17.2%) but was not included when comparing state figures.

For a look at the data and how we made this map, visit our StoryMap: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/9c57e887cfd945b79a707fe293dbd4af

This animated map was made using Esri’s ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe After Effects, Maxon Cinema 4D, and Redshift. Please visit http://ow.ly/fm2950xgu0B for more information about ArcGIS Pro and http://ow.ly/ARNt50le6GN to learn more about ArcGIS Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud.

Music: Four on Five by Yehezkel Raz