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
751 Wittenberg University D $27,000 $307 $54,947 1.8 yrs
752 Ripon College Wisconsin D $27,000 $307 $54,902 1.8 yrs
753 Knox College D $27,000 $307 $54,820 1.8 yrs
754 Alma College D $27,000 $307 $54,742 1.8 yrs
755 Transylvania University D $27,000 $307 $54,705 1.8 yrs
756 Hiram College D $27,000 $307 $54,311 1.8 yrs
757 Baldwin Wallace University D $27,000 $307 $54,122 1.9 yrs
758 Brenau University D $27,000 $307 $54,003 1.9 yrs
759 Millsaps College D $27,000 $307 $53,848 1.9 yrs
760 Dakota Wesleyan University D $27,000 $307 $53,728 1.9 yrs
761 Sarah Lawrence College D $27,000 $307 $53,603 1.9 yrs
762 University of Mount Union Ohio D $27,000 $307 $53,217 2 yrs
763 Alverno College D $27,000 $307 $53,145 2 yrs
764 American International College D $27,000 $307 $53,124 2 yrs
765 Sweet Briar College D $27,000 $307 $51,943 2.2 yrs
766 West Virginia Wesleyan College D $27,000 $307 $51,593 2.2 yrs
767 Spring Hill College D $27,000 $307 $51,500 2.3 yrs
768 Hastings College D $27,000 $307 $51,303 2.3 yrs
769 Millikin University D $27,000 $307 $51,262 2.3 yrs
770 Monmouth College D $27,000 $307 $51,110 2.3 yrs
771 Centenary College of Louisiana D $27,000 $307 $50,330 2.5 yrs
772 Tuskegee University D $27,000 $307 $49,641 2.7 yrs
773 Huntingdon College D $27,000 $307 $49,601 2.7 yrs
774 McMurry University F $27,000 $307 $48,779 2.9 yrs
775 University of Maryland Eastern Shore F $27,000 $307 $47,697 3.3 yrs
776 Young Harris College F $27,000 $307 $47,195 3.5 yrs
777 Oral Roberts University F $27,000 $307 $46,885 3.7 yrs
778 Point Park University Pennsylvania F $27,000 $307 $45,856 4.3 yrs
779 Fisk University F $27,000 $307 $45,454 4.6 yrs
780 Bethany College F $27,000 $307 $44,512 5.4 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?
Wittenberg University — $54,947 median earnings against $27,000 of debt, clearing in about 1.8 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.