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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 781 | West Virginia Wesleyan College West Virginia | D | $27,000 | $307 | $51,593 | 2.2 yrs |
| 782 | Spring Hill College Alabama | D | $27,000 | $307 | $51,500 | 2.3 yrs |
| 783 | Hastings College Nebraska | D | $27,000 | $307 | $51,303 | 2.3 yrs |
| 784 | Millikin University Illinois | D | $27,000 | $307 | $51,262 | 2.3 yrs |
| 785 | Monmouth College Illinois | D | $27,000 | $307 | $51,110 | 2.3 yrs |
| 786 | Centenary College of Louisiana Louisiana | D | $27,000 | $307 | $50,330 | 2.5 yrs |
| 787 | Tuskegee University Alabama | D | $27,000 | $307 | $49,641 | 2.7 yrs |
| 788 | Huntingdon College Alabama | D | $27,000 | $307 | $49,601 | 2.7 yrs |
| 789 | McMurry University Texas | F | $27,000 | $307 | $48,779 | 2.9 yrs |
| 790 | University of Maryland Eastern Shore Maryland | F | $27,000 | $307 | $47,697 | 3.3 yrs |
| 791 | Young Harris College Georgia | F | $27,000 | $307 | $47,195 | 3.5 yrs |
| 792 | Oral Roberts University Oklahoma | F | $27,000 | $307 | $46,885 | 3.7 yrs |
| 793 | Point Park University Pennsylvania | F | $27,000 | $307 | $45,856 | 4.3 yrs |
| 794 | Fisk University Tennessee | F | $27,000 | $307 | $45,454 | 4.6 yrs |
| 795 | Bethany College West Virginia | F | $27,000 | $307 | $44,512 | 5.4 yrs |
| 796 | Davis & Elkins College West Virginia | F | $27,000 | $307 | $43,411 | 6.9 yrs |
| 797 | Florida Institute of Technology Florida | F | $27,000 | $307 | $43,137 | 7.5 yrs |
| 798 | Stephens College Missouri | F | $27,000 | $307 | $43,071 | 7.6 yrs |
| 799 | Tennessee State University Tennessee | F | $27,000 | $307 | $42,730 | 8.4 yrs |
| 800 | Oakwood University Alabama | F | $27,000 | $307 | $42,488 | 9.1 yrs |
| 801 | Bethel University Tennessee | F | $27,249 | $310 | $47,482 | 3.4 yrs |
| 802 | Morgan State University Maryland | D | $27,250 | $310 | $50,698 | 2.4 yrs |
| 803 | Pacific Union College California | B | $27,500 | $313 | $70,484 | 0.9 yrs |
| 804 | Lincoln University Pennsylvania | F | $28,250 | $321 | $43,167 | 7.8 yrs |
| 805 | North Carolina Central University North Carolina | F | $28,250 | $321 | $42,968 | 8.2 yrs |
| 806 | Colorado Christian University Colorado | D | $28,312 | $322 | $50,416 | 2.6 yrs |
| 807 | University of Advancing Technology Arizona | D | $28,812 | $328 | $50,719 | 2.6 yrs |
| 808 | Norfolk State University Virginia | F | $29,000 | $330 | $44,666 | 5.6 yrs |
| 809 | Golden Gate University California | B | $29,875 | $340 | $87,434 | 0.6 yrs |
| 810 | Johnson C. Smith University North Carolina | F | $30,000 | $341 | $42,680 | 9.5 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.