Ranked

795 US colleges ranked by student debt, lowest first

Ordered by median federal debt at graduation — smallest loan first, with what graduates go on to earn beside it. The typical graded US university clears its debt in 1.3 years on median earnings of $57,089 against $22,500 of debt.

#UniversityGradeYou borrowMonthlyYou earnDebt clears in
451 Xavier University B $23,250 $264 $64,873 0.9 yrs
452 Westmont College B $23,250 $264 $64,778 0.9 yrs
453 Wheaton College B $23,250 $264 $63,756 1 yrs
454 University of Baltimore C $23,250 $264 $61,335 1.1 yrs
455 College of Charleston C $23,250 $264 $56,416 1.4 yrs
456 South Dakota State University C $23,250 $264 $55,070 1.5 yrs
457 Georgia Southern University Georgia D $23,250 $264 $53,236 1.7 yrs
458 East Texas Baptist University TX D $23,250 $264 $52,788 1.8 yrs
459 Chatham University Pennsylvania D $23,250 $264 $52,410 1.8 yrs
460 Ball State University D $23,250 $264 $51,833 1.9 yrs
461 Eureka College Illinois D $23,250 $264 $51,641 1.9 yrs
462 Stetson University D $23,250 $264 $51,642 1.9 yrs
463 Kansas Wesleyan University Kansas D $23,250 $264 $51,152 2 yrs
464 Lake Superior State University D $23,250 $264 $49,045 2.4 yrs
465 University of Akron F $23,250 $264 $46,600 3.3 yrs
466 Marshall University F $23,250 $264 $46,354 3.4 yrs
467 University of Memphis Tennessee D $23,300 $265 $48,458 2.6 yrs
468 New York Institute of Technology New York B $23,334 $265 $70,080 0.8 yrs
469 Stephen F. Austin State University D $23,409 $266 $49,634 2.3 yrs
470 Earlham College D $23,488 $267 $50,797 2.1 yrs
471 Connecticut College B $23,500 $267 $75,001 0.7 yrs
472 University of La Verne B $23,500 $267 $65,464 0.9 yrs
473 West Chester University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania C $23,500 $267 $61,258 1.1 yrs
474 Dakota State University D $23,500 $267 $50,970 2.1 yrs
475 Antioch University D $23,501 $267 $51,541 2 yrs
476 Antioch University - Los Angeles D $23,501 $267 $51,541 2 yrs
477 Antioch University - Seattle D $23,501 $267 $51,541 2 yrs
478 Millersville University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania C $23,507 $267 $55,246 1.5 yrs
479 Pepperdine University A $23,510 $267 $82,939 0.5 yrs
480 Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University F $23,548 $268 $44,349 4.9 yrs

Low debt has two very different causes

A university can leave students with little debt because it is genuinely affordable — strong institutional aid, low in-state tuition — or because so few of its students borrow that the median falls to a handful of cases. The earnings column beside it is what separates the two.

What the debt figure leaves out

It counts federal loans only. Private loans, credit cards and parent borrowing sit outside the dataset, so a family that financed college another way appears here as low debt.

Questions

Which US university tops this list?
Xavier University — $64,873 median earnings against $23,250 of debt, clearing in about 0.9 years.
How much do US students typically borrow?
Across the 795 universities we grade, median debt at graduation is $22,500 — about $256 a month on the standard ten-year federal plan.
Can scholarships change these numbers?
Directly. Every award comes off the borrowing before you ever repay it, which shortens the payback on each university page. Each page lists the scholarships we hold for that institution.
All payback rankings Fastest payback Highest earnings Scholarships that cut the debt How we calculate this

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard. Figures cover students who received federal financial aid and blend every subject at each institution. Information only, not financial advice.