There’s a famous quote that’s been attributed to just about everyone, but in fact, it came from the pen of Mark Twain.

“There are lies,” Twain wrote, “there are damn lies, and there are statistics.”

Twain was correct, of course, about people’s ability to turn numbers into pretzels while attempting to prove almost anything.

Some numbers, however — such as the amount of student loan money owed by graduates of Idaho’s four-year colleges — are not exactly debatable.

But you can almost see Twain smiling at the following statement: Exactly how and why Idaho university grads owe what they do is a matter of interpretation.

Before we join that argument, here are some solid facts: Student loans owed by graduates at Idaho’s four-year public institutions — University of Idaho, Lewis-Clark State College, Boise State University and Idaho State University — currently average $18,228, according to the nationally recognized, not-for-profit Student Loan Report.

Perhaps even more startling, that number — already the highest average debt in the western United States — would be inflated even further except for the extremely low amount of debt owed by University of Idaho graduates.

The Moscow-based system, which includes study centers in Coeur d’Alene, Boise and Idaho Falls, checked in with outstanding student loans averaging $15,564 and only 58 percent of grads owing anything at all.

None of the other state’s public schools showed student debt under $20,000, with Boise State topping the list at $21,605.

Likewise, none of the other schools had a percentage of grads owing loans less than 69 percent (Idaho State).

Even with the University of Idaho’s system pulling the average down, Idaho was a clear outlier west of the Mississippi River, and the state’s student debt was 14th-worst in the nation, with almost all other higher average schools in or around the Ivy League.

New Hampshire had the highest average student loan debt in the country at $25,740.

Utah had the lowest average at $7,527, with Wyoming second at $10,434.

Washington was 14th at $14,057 and Montana 20th with an average of $15,909.

Washington State University’s average debt was $15,743, while Eastern Washington was even lower at $13,298.

The only major private school in the region, Gonzaga, clocked an average of $19,148 – still lower than all but one Idaho public institution.

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There are two obvious questions following on from this rather startling report:

Why is student debt so high in Idaho?

What makes the University of Idaho so different from the rest of the state?

“In situations like this one, you simply can’t escape the issue of funding from a state legislature,” said Kevin Fudge, director of consumer advocacy for the non-profit American Students Assistance organization.

“Lawmakers, especially in some states, somehow don’t grasp the concept that investment in education is like preventative medicine. If you don’t pay now to provide excellent post-secondary education, you’ll pay later when companies don’t relocate to your state because you don’t have a properly educated workforce.”

So does all of this fall on the Idaho Legislature and, if so, is there any change in the wind?

“There’s a whole variety of factors involved in this,” said Blake Youde, the Idaho State Board of Education’s chief communications and legislative affairs officer.

“Obviously, we had some drastic funding cuts during the recession, amounts around 25 percent as the state was hit pretty hard. But both the board and the legislature are very aware of the situation we’re in now, and there are quite a few initiatives to help ease those costs. Opportunity scholarships have been doubled this fiscal year, and we’re trying to find incentives for students to get through school more quickly — which obviously is cheaper.”

The board doesn’t seem to be hiding from the fact that an educated workforce is close to critical.

“We have a study,” Youde said, “that indicates that by 2020, 68 percent of all jobs — across the spectrum — will require some type of post-secondary degree. I believe both the board and the legislature feel the sense that they have to be proactive.”

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Ironically, both candidates running for the legislature in hopes of representing District 4 (basically Coeur d’Alene) have backgrounds in education – and each put the student debt problem in the hands of the legislature.

Paul Amador was gentler, perhaps, while Tom Hearn verges on anger whenever the subject comes up.

But they both wound up in more or less the same place.

“Idaho was one of a number western states — there were 16, I believe — that agreed to a principal of ‘low-tuition, low-aid’ as a way to handle the costs of higher education,” said Amador, who works in program development at the University of Idaho.

“It didn’t work as well in Idaho, with such small resources, and (the legislature) didn’t think there was additional need.”

Hearn is less diplomatic.

“Funding for higher education is far, far below pre-recession levels,” he said. “There’s simply no appetite for education in the legislature at all.

“They’d rather pull the same stunt of estimating revenues too low and expenditures too high, wind up with a surplus, then give in to a right-wing group that wants to lower taxes.

“There’s no public commitment to higher education. During the recession, states like Washington and California found other savings but protected education – but not in Idaho.”

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The final puzzle, though, is how the University of Idaho — funded by the same legislature — has managed to dodge the worst of these hits.

“I think we have more of a traditional student demographic, with a high percentage of campus residents,” Amador said. “We also have a significantly higher graduation rate, and when you get somebody through the program in three years instead of four, that’s going to save a lot of money.”

Jodi Walker, the university’s communications director, agreed with those points and added more.

“We work pretty hard on a dual-credit program, so that high school students can get credit for courses here,” she said. “If you have a few of those courses, it’s going to shorten your time to graduation.

“Right now, we show about 1,600 students in one or more dual-credit classes. Besides the time they’ll save, those students will have a direct pipeline into higher education.”

The University of Idaho also benefits from a history dating back to 1889.

“Certainly we have a lot of long-term endowments ($243 million, according to the school’s website) from generous donors, and that has allowed us to give scholarships to deserving students.

“In addition to that, the president (Chuck Stuben) wanted to create a gesture this year, and he waived the $60 application fees for in-state students. It’s not a pile of money, but it’s a clear signal from the university that we want our best Idaho students.”

Whether Idahoans should consider this good news or not, the University of Idaho has an average student debt (and percentage of grads with loan debt) almost equivalent to nearby Washington State University.

Idaho’s tuition is $7,020 per year for in-state students, compared to $10,916 at Wazzu.

Comparative loan debt is almost identical at $15,564 to $15,743, and the number of grads with debt is 58 percent to 61 percent.

The problem, obviously, lies with Idaho’s other four-year schools – and the consensus seems to be that only some serious help from the legislature can fix it.