Student debt increased in the last quarter of 2011, topping $867 billion nationwide, a report released Monday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed.

The total – which represents a $22 billion hike from the quarter before – includes loans issued by state and federal governments as well as banks and financial institutions.

The Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, which analyzed data from the last three months of 2011, showed that student debt accounts for 8 percent of the country’s total debt balance – a 1 percent increase from the three-month period before.

The average graduate in 2010 left college with $25,250 in student loans to repay, according to the most recent data available from the Project on Student Debt. GW students at that time racked up an average of $32,547.

This year, less than one percent of GW students defaulted on student loans.

The increase in overall student debt comes on the heels of a major initiative by President Barack Obama to rein in the cost of higher education. Associate Vice President for Financial Assistance Dan Small said in October that Obama’s efforts would do little for GW students who are unlikely to default on their loan repayments.