Ellington

It's a good thing Mississippians owe less in student loan debt than the national average because ours is one of two states where personal income is shrinking.

Personal income is a measure of income received by all people from all sources including wages, business profits, dividends and interest. According to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, personal income in Mississippi dipped 0.3 percent during the first quarter of 2012. Kansas was the only other state that experienced shrinkage in personal income during the same period.

At the same time income is going down, Mississippi is part of a national uptick in student loan indebtedness.

The average debt for 2010 graduates of four-year colleges and universities is $22,142, according to information from the Institute for College Access and Success. That sum is below the national average of $25,250.

The institute's Project on Student Debt ranks graduates of Millsaps College in Jackson as owing the most of any other institution in the state $ 28,745. Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi are ranked second and third with average debt loads of $25,261 and $23,637, respectively.