Good news about millennials and money

ATLANTA - Millennials have caught a lot of guff over the years for lack of savings and lots of college loan debt. But, here's good news for our now largest generation: Things are looking up.

This is a two-part look at millennials and money. First, savings.  Millennials, pat yourselves on the back.

According to Bankrate.com - younger millennials - 18-to -26 years old have bumped up retirement savings contributions over last year by 30 percent. That's more than any other group. That is a big step in the right direction.   I mean, if you look across the board, only 23 percent of the US as a whole increased its savings.

Now let's look at the school loans. Getting out from under that for many millennials is like trying to run in mud, but here's an encouraging number. 

According to Lendedu.com, a student loan debt tracker, that debt is down 1.5 percent nationwide. It's a $1.4 trillion loan crisis, so any movement down helps.

Here's where Georgia ranks nationally for public schools:  59 percent of graduates have debt. The average is $27,325.

The students with the greatest debt come from Georgia Tech at $32,169, but it's down 2.5 percent.

The greatest decrease in student loan debt comes from Columbus State University at just more than 4 percent. But, debt is up more than four percent at Georgia Southern.

Again, Lendedu.com has lots of information on this data they've just released, including the numbers for private schools.  At Clark Atlanta University, the average debt load is high at more than $40,000. But, get this, that number is down more than 5 percent. 

It's worth checking out this easy to read report: State-by-State Student Loan Debt Report.