The average student-loan debt facing graduating seniors in 2006 increased more rapidly from the previous year than did the average starting salaries offered to recent college graduates, according to a report being released today by the Project on Student Debt.

In its second annual report, “Student Debt and the Class of 2006,” the public-policy group found that the average loan debt increased by 8 percent from 2005 to 2006, while starting salary offers rose by about 4 percent. Over all, the report estimates, the average student-loan debt for the Class of 2006 was about $21,100.

Students who graduated from institutions in Washington, D.C., faced the highest average debt, $27,757. Graduates of colleges in Hawaii accumulated the lowest average debt, $11,758.

The report makes several recommendations about how to reduce students’ need to borrow and the risks they assume when they do take out loans. It urges the federal government to increase the value of the Pell Grant and to make sure that borrowers have “fair and reasonable” repayment options. The report also says that colleges should do more to counsel students thoroughly about their financing options, and that states and institutions should focus their funds for student aid on helping people with the most financial need.

The project’s Web site includes an interactive map with statewide debt averages and campus-by-campus data. —Sara Hebel