While many media reports have focused on a looming national student loan crisis, a research report by the Institute of College Access and Success took a closer look at this issue by identifying in which states students graduated with the highest and the lowest average loan debt in 2012.

Because higher education costs continue to increase, the demand for student loans is expected to increase as well. To meet that demand, more credit unions have been expanding their private student loan portfolios while more cooperatives have entered this growth market over the last few years.

For example, in 2011 only 375 credit unions offered private student loans. By the end of 2013, that number grew to 642, according to data compiled from NCUA 5300 Call Reports by student loan CUSO CU Campus Resources in Madison, Wis. By the end of 2014's first quarter, 655 cooperatives were providing private student loans to their members.