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 $57,146 against $22,500 of debt.
| # | University | Grade | You borrow | Monthly | You earn | Debt clears in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berea College Kentucky | C | $3,591 | $41 | $43,150 | 1 yrs |
| 2 | Cascadia College Washington | A | $6,368 | $72 | $54,133 | 0.4 yrs |
| 3 | Irvine Valley College California | B | $6,500 | $74 | $49,156 | 0.7 yrs |
| 4 | Waubonsee Community College Illinois | C | $7,000 | $80 | $44,788 | 1.3 yrs |
| 5 | Palm Beach State College Florida | F | $7,081 | $81 | $41,923 | 3 yrs |
| 6 | Broward College Florida | F | $7,500 | $85 | $41,939 | 3.1 yrs |
| 7 | Florida Southwestern State College Florida | D | $8,000 | $91 | $43,421 | 2.1 yrs |
| 8 | Frederick Community College Maryland | C | $8,150 | $93 | $46,449 | 1.2 yrs |
| 9 | Anne Arundel Community College Maryland | C | $8,250 | $94 | $46,219 | 1.2 yrs |
| 10 | United States Merchant Marine Academy New York | A | $8,833 | $100 | $90,610 | 0.2 yrs |
| 11 | Brigham Young University Hawaii Hawaii | B | $9,413 | $107 | $52,064 | 0.8 yrs |
| 12 | Harford Community College Maryland | D | $9,812 | $112 | $44,608 | 1.9 yrs |
| 13 | Wellesley College Massachusetts | A | $10,000 | $114 | $84,803 | 0.2 yrs |
| 14 | Johns Hopkins University Maryland | A | $10,250 | $117 | $87,555 | 0.2 yrs |
| 15 | Princeton University New Jersey | A | $10,320 | $117 | $110,066 | 0.2 yrs |
| 16 | Montgomery College Maryland | C | $10,415 | $118 | $50,159 | 1 yrs |
| 17 | Everett Community College Washington | D | $10,417 | $118 | $45,434 | 1.8 yrs |
| 18 | Howard Community College Maryland | C | $10,500 | $119 | $49,020 | 1.1 yrs |
| 19 | Sierra College California | D | $10,500 | $119 | $45,294 | 1.8 yrs |
| 20 | Mercer County Community College New Jersey | F | $10,500 | $119 | $43,264 | 2.8 yrs |
| 21 | Hagerstown Community College Maryland | F | $11,000 | $125 | $41,615 | 5.3 yrs |
| 22 | Rice University Texas | A | $11,000 | $125 | $89,718 | 0.2 yrs |
| 23 | Brigham Young University Utah | A | $11,069 | $126 | $75,790 | 0.3 yrs |
| 24 | Western Governors University Utah | A | $11,116 | $126 | $60,615 | 0.5 yrs |
| 25 | New Mexico Highlands University New Mexico | D | $11,399 | $130 | $45,937 | 1.8 yrs |
| 26 | Southern California University of Health Sciences California | A | $11,400 | $130 | $70,649 | 0.4 yrs |
| 27 | Brown University Rhode Island | A | $11,428 | $130 | $93,487 | 0.2 yrs |
| 28 | Community College of Baltimore County Maryland | F | $11,528 | $131 | $43,729 | 2.7 yrs |
| 29 | Pomona College California | A | $11,782 | $134 | $77,779 | 0.3 yrs |
| 30 | Stanford University California | A | $12,000 | $136 | $124,080 | 0.1 yrs |
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.
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.
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.