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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 661 | Andrews University Michigan | D | $26,000 | $296 | $53,187 | 1.9 yrs |
| 662 | Goucher College Maryland | D | $26,000 | $296 | $53,023 | 1.9 yrs |
| 663 | Delaware State University Delaware | D | $26,000 | $296 | $49,307 | 2.7 yrs |
| 664 | Oklahoma Christian University Oklahoma | F | $26,000 | $296 | $49,203 | 2.7 yrs |
| 665 | Rocky Mountain College Montana | F | $26,000 | $296 | $49,036 | 2.7 yrs |
| 666 | Guilford College North Carolina | F | $26,000 | $296 | $47,590 | 3.2 yrs |
| 667 | Black Hills State University South Dakota | F | $26,000 | $296 | $46,674 | 3.6 yrs |
| 668 | Davenport University Michigan | F | $26,000 | $296 | $45,099 | 4.7 yrs |
| 669 | Columbus State University Georgia | F | $26,000 | $296 | $44,544 | 5.2 yrs |
| 670 | Mount Saint Mary College New York | B | $26,007 | $296 | $67,705 | 0.9 yrs |
| 671 | California Baptist University California | C | $26,063 | $296 | $61,504 | 1.2 yrs |
| 672 | Kalamazoo College Michigan | C | $26,077 | $296 | $65,590 | 1 yrs |
| 673 | Rider University New Jersey | C | $26,130 | $297 | $62,208 | 1.2 yrs |
| 674 | Midland University Nebraska | D | $26,134 | $297 | $52,163 | 2.1 yrs |
| 675 | Lake Forest College Illinois | C | $26,158 | $297 | $61,825 | 1.2 yrs |
| 676 | Pfeiffer University North Carolina | D | $26,163 | $297 | $51,562 | 2.2 yrs |
| 677 | Marywood University Pennsylvania | C | $26,186 | $298 | $55,817 | 1.6 yrs |
| 678 | Western Michigan University Michigan | D | $26,188 | $298 | $53,562 | 1.9 yrs |
| 679 | Duquesne University Pennsylvania | B | $26,244 | $298 | $74,742 | 0.8 yrs |
| 680 | Belhaven University Mississippi | F | $26,333 | $299 | $46,440 | 3.8 yrs |
| 681 | Indiana Institute of Technology Indiana | F | $26,391 | $300 | $47,327 | 3.4 yrs |
| 682 | Denver College of Nursing Colorado | B | $26,500 | $301 | $81,809 | 0.6 yrs |
| 683 | The College of Wooster Ohio | C | $26,500 | $301 | $59,629 | 1.3 yrs |
| 684 | Harding University Arkansas | D | $26,500 | $301 | $52,876 | 2 yrs |
| 685 | Virginia State University Virginia | F | $26,500 | $301 | $45,543 | 4.4 yrs |
| 686 | Hendrix College Arkansas | C | $26,688 | $303 | $60,376 | 1.3 yrs |
| 687 | Anderson University South Carolina | F | $26,700 | $304 | $42,101 | 10.3 yrs |
| 688 | Agnes Scott College Georgia | C | $26,749 | $304 | $56,274 | 1.6 yrs |
| 689 | Clark University Massachusetts | C | $26,759 | $304 | $62,381 | 1.2 yrs |
| 690 | Gustavus Adolphus College Minnesota | C | $26,774 | $304 | $65,607 | 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.