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
601 The University of North Carolina at Pembroke North Carolina F $25,000 $284 $43,407 6.4 yrs
602 Lander University South Carolina F $25,000 $284 $42,396 8.7 yrs
603 Columbia College Chicago Illinois F $25,000 $284 $42,195 9.4 yrs
604 Troy University Alabama F $25,000 $284 $42,062 9.8 yrs
605 Bentley University Massachusetts A $25,023 $285 $120,959 0.3 yrs
606 Wentworth Institute of Technology Massachusetts A $25,028 $285 $82,721 0.6 yrs
607 Geneva College Pennsylvania D $25,198 $287 $50,004 2.4 yrs
608 University of New England Maine C $25,250 $287 $55,921 1.5 yrs
609 Hanover College Indiana D $25,250 $287 $53,957 1.8 yrs
610 Western Illinois University Illinois D $25,251 $287 $54,163 1.7 yrs
611 Saint Leo University Florida F $25,278 $287 $48,364 2.9 yrs
612 Drew University New Jersey C $25,288 $288 $63,646 1.1 yrs
613 Mercyhurst University Pennsylvania F $25,305 $288 $47,452 3.2 yrs
614 Drexel University Pennsylvania A $25,325 $288 $84,648 0.6 yrs
615 Union College New York A $25,337 $288 $88,604 0.5 yrs
616 Augsburg University Minnesota C $25,347 $288 $58,829 1.3 yrs
617 Mount St. Mary's University Maryland C $25,391 $289 $64,072 1 yrs
618 University of Findlay Ohio C $25,439 $289 $56,996 1.5 yrs
619 Hampton University Virginia C $25,442 $289 $59,159 1.3 yrs
620 Niagara University New York C $25,475 $290 $56,196 1.5 yrs
621 Western New England University Massachusetts B $25,500 $290 $73,157 0.8 yrs
622 Rollins College Florida C $25,500 $290 $58,295 1.4 yrs
623 Illinois College Illinois D $25,565 $291 $52,575 2 yrs
624 Huntington University Indiana F $25,576 $291 $46,672 3.6 yrs
625 Brandeis University Massachusetts B $25,648 $292 $77,231 0.7 yrs
626 LaGrange College Georgia D $25,730 $293 $51,745 2.1 yrs
627 Wofford College South Carolina B $25,732 $293 $68,964 0.9 yrs
628 Beloit College Wisconsin D $25,738 $293 $53,260 1.9 yrs
629 Keene State College New Hampshire D $25,749 $293 $54,368 1.7 yrs
630 University of Dubuque Iowa D $25,750 $293 $51,190 2.2 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?
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke — $43,407 median earnings against $25,000 of debt, clearing in about 6.4 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.