Ranked

810 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 $57,146 against $22,500 of debt.

#UniversityGradeYou borrowMonthlyYou earnDebt clears in
571 Christopher Newport University Virginia C $25,000 $284 $60,509 1.2 yrs
572 Spelman College Georgia C $25,000 $284 $59,993 1.2 yrs
573 Augustana University South Dakota C $25,000 $284 $59,217 1.3 yrs
574 Shenandoah University Virginia C $25,000 $284 $58,433 1.3 yrs
575 Felician University New Jersey C $25,000 $284 $57,602 1.4 yrs
576 Hood College Maryland C $25,000 $284 $57,089 1.4 yrs
577 Trine University Indiana C $25,000 $284 $57,165 1.4 yrs
578 Southwestern University Texas C $25,000 $284 $56,878 1.4 yrs
579 Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania C $25,000 $284 $56,351 1.5 yrs
580 Curry College Massachusetts C $25,000 $284 $54,400 1.7 yrs
581 Marian University Wisconsin D $25,000 $284 $53,501 1.8 yrs
582 Doane University Nebraska D $25,000 $284 $53,316 1.8 yrs
583 University of Michigan–Flint Michigan D $25,000 $284 $53,230 1.8 yrs
584 Olivet Nazarene University Illinois D $25,000 $284 $53,213 1.8 yrs
585 Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania D $25,000 $284 $53,032 1.9 yrs
586 Ashland University Ohio D $25,000 $284 $52,928 1.9 yrs
587 Upper Iowa University Iowa D $25,000 $284 $52,766 1.9 yrs
588 La Roche University Pennsylvania D $25,000 $284 $52,341 2 yrs
589 Longwood University Virginia D $25,000 $284 $52,347 2 yrs
590 Friends University Kansas D $25,000 $284 $52,113 2 yrs
591 Saginaw Valley State University Michigan D $25,000 $284 $51,955 2 yrs
592 Eastern Michigan University Michigan D $25,000 $284 $51,793 2 yrs
593 Meredith College North Carolina D $25,000 $284 $51,539 2.1 yrs
594 Buena Vista University Iowa D $25,000 $284 $49,156 2.6 yrs
595 University of Maine Maine F $25,000 $284 $48,653 2.7 yrs
596 University of Maine at Machias Maine F $25,000 $284 $48,653 2.7 yrs
597 University of Maine System Maine F $25,000 $284 $48,653 2.7 yrs
598 Bowling Green State University Ohio F $25,000 $284 $47,896 3 yrs
599 Coppin State University Maryland F $25,000 $284 $46,490 3.6 yrs
600 Auburn University at Montgomery Alabama F $25,000 $284 $44,391 5.1 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?
Christopher Newport University — $60,509 median earnings against $25,000 of debt, clearing in about 1.2 years.
How much do US students typically borrow?
Across the 810 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.