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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Hesston College Kansas | C | $12,000 | $136 | $47,495 | 1.5 yrs |
| 32 | Stanford University California | A | $12,000 | $136 | $124,080 | 0.1 yrs |
| 33 | Texas Tech University-Health Sciences Center Texas | A | $12,268 | $139 | $92,348 | 0.2 yrs |
| 34 | Thomas Edison State University New Jersey | A | $12,500 | $142 | $69,331 | 0.4 yrs |
| 35 | Southern Utah University Utah | C | $12,500 | $142 | $50,296 | 1.2 yrs |
| 36 | California State University, Monterey Bay California | B | $12,750 | $145 | $59,247 | 0.7 yrs |
| 37 | Williams College Massachusetts | A | $12,761 | $145 | $88,665 | 0.3 yrs |
| 38 | Lake Superior College Minnesota | D | $12,775 | $145 | $46,449 | 1.8 yrs |
| 39 | The University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley Texas | C | $12,950 | $147 | $49,620 | 1.3 yrs |
| 40 | Yale University Connecticut | A | $12,975 | $148 | $100,533 | 0.2 yrs |
| 41 | Portland Community College Oregon | D | $12,999 | $148 | $44,592 | 2.6 yrs |
| 42 | University of California Davis California | A | $13,000 | $148 | $80,838 | 0.3 yrs |
| 43 | Duke University North Carolina | A | $13,000 | $148 | $97,800 | 0.2 yrs |
| 44 | University of California, Berkeley California | A | $13,000 | $148 | $92,446 | 0.3 yrs |
| 45 | California State University, Los Angeles California | B | $13,000 | $148 | $59,211 | 0.7 yrs |
| 46 | California State University, Stanislaus California | A | $13,540 | $154 | $63,188 | 0.6 yrs |
| 47 | Florida State College at Jacksonville Florida | F | $13,562 | $154 | $42,244 | 5 yrs |
| 48 | Amherst College Massachusetts | A | $13,740 | $156 | $77,644 | 0.4 yrs |
| 49 | California State University, Fullerton California | B | $13,750 | $156 | $62,951 | 0.6 yrs |
| 50 | California State University, Dominguez Hills California | B | $13,807 | $157 | $57,162 | 0.8 yrs |
| 51 | Bastyr University Washington | C | $13,817 | $157 | $49,364 | 1.4 yrs |
| 52 | Middlebury College Vermont | A | $13,857 | $158 | $76,310 | 0.4 yrs |
| 53 | Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey California | A | $13,857 | $158 | $76,310 | 0.4 yrs |
| 54 | California State University, Northridge California | B | $13,872 | $158 | $59,115 | 0.7 yrs |
| 55 | Brigham Young University - Idaho Idaho | C | $13,969 | $159 | $53,406 | 1 yrs |
| 56 | University of California, Santa Barbara California | A | $13,993 | $159 | $74,915 | 0.4 yrs |
| 57 | Vanderbilt University Tennessee | A | $14,000 | $159 | $91,565 | 0.3 yrs |
| 58 | Harvard University Massachusetts | A | $14,000 | $159 | $101,817 | 0.2 yrs |
| 59 | University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Arkansas | A | $14,000 | $159 | $73,827 | 0.4 yrs |
| 60 | University of California, Los Angeles California | A | $14,000 | $159 | $82,511 | 0.3 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.