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
721 Bradley University C $27,000 $307 $66,852 1 yrs
722 Centre College C $27,000 $307 $66,240 1 yrs
723 Lebanon Valley College C $27,000 $307 $62,621 1.2 yrs
724 Elizabethtown College C $27,000 $307 $62,399 1.2 yrs
725 Allegheny College C $27,000 $307 $62,069 1.2 yrs
726 La Sierra University C $27,000 $307 $61,824 1.2 yrs
727 Susquehanna University Pennsylvania C $27,000 $307 $61,723 1.2 yrs
728 Hartwick College C $27,000 $307 $61,107 1.3 yrs
729 University of Hartford Connecticut C $27,000 $307 $60,823 1.3 yrs
730 University of New Haven Connecticut C $27,000 $307 $60,126 1.3 yrs
731 Saint Vincent College C $27,000 $307 $59,982 1.3 yrs
732 Luther College C $27,000 $307 $59,850 1.3 yrs
733 King's College C $27,000 $307 $59,498 1.4 yrs
734 Albion College C $27,000 $307 $58,799 1.4 yrs
735 Gannon University C $27,000 $307 $58,845 1.4 yrs
736 Albright College Pennsylvania C $27,000 $307 $58,700 1.4 yrs
737 Randolph-Macon College C $27,000 $307 $58,448 1.4 yrs
738 Keuka College New York C $27,000 $307 $58,289 1.4 yrs
739 Roanoke College C $27,000 $307 $58,047 1.5 yrs
740 Christian Brothers University C $27,000 $307 $57,478 1.5 yrs
741 Coe College C $27,000 $307 $57,125 1.5 yrs
742 Marietta College C $27,000 $307 $57,180 1.5 yrs
743 Juniata College C $27,000 $307 $56,918 1.6 yrs
744 University of the Incarnate Word C $27,000 $307 $56,733 1.6 yrs
745 University of Jamestown C $27,000 $307 $56,621 1.6 yrs
746 Wartburg College Iowa C $27,000 $307 $56,201 1.6 yrs
747 Lycoming College C $27,000 $307 $56,210 1.6 yrs
748 Central Michigan University C $27,000 $307 $55,874 1.7 yrs
749 Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio C $27,000 $307 $55,624 1.7 yrs
750 Alvernia University Pennsylvania D $27,000 $307 $55,055 1.7 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?
Bradley University — $66,852 median earnings against $27,000 of debt, clearing in about 1 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.

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.