Colleges with the lowest student debt at graduation
Four-year colleges ranked by the median federal loan debt of graduates, counting only colleges where at least half of students finish.
Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition · Source: College Scorecard and IPEDS, latest data · 898 colleges · Last updated November 15, 2026 · Next check November 16, 2026
Ranked first
$5,500
Berea College (Kentucky), median federal debt at graduation.
College Scorecard, latest data
Key findings
- Median qualifying college
- $21,500
- Median federal debt at graduation.
- Colleges that qualify
- 898
- The top 50 are listed below.
- States
- 50
- 312 public and 586 private nonprofit colleges.
898 four-year colleges in 50 states meet every criterion on this page.
Berea College (Kentucky) ranks first, with median federal debt of $5,500 at graduation.
The median qualifying college has median federal debt of $21,500 at graduation.
312 qualifying colleges are public and 586 private nonprofit.
College by college
The ranking
Ranked by median federal debt at graduation, lowest first. Select a column heading to sort.
| Berea CollegeKentucky · Private nonprofit | 1 | $5,500 | 66% | $48,071 | $5,836 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States Merchant Marine AcademyNew York · Public | 2 | $5,500 | 78% | $103,283 | $1,516 |
| California Institute of Technology CalTechCalifornia · Private nonprofit | 3 | $7,500 | 90% | $166,642 | $8,509 |
| South Florida State CollegeFlorida · Public | 4 | $7,687 | 52% | $41,548 | $1,502 |
| Smith College-MassachusettsMassachusetts · Private nonprofit | 5 | $8,000 | 86% | $69,936 | $25,519 |
| Williams CollegeMassachusetts · Private nonprofit | 6 | $8,000 | 95% | $95,954 | $15,157 |
| Grinnell CollegeIowa · Private nonprofit | 7 | $8,750 | 86% | $72,106 | $15,203 |
| Wellesley CollegeMassachusetts · Private nonprofit | 8 | $9,788 | 91% | $90,458 | $23,995 |
| CUNY John Jay College of Criminal JusticeNew York · Public | 9 | $10,500 | 54% | $65,870 | $1,110 |
| CUNY Queens CollegeNew York · Public | 10 | $10,500 | 53% | $68,324 | $1,272 |
| Stanford UniversityCalifornia · Private nonprofit | 11 | $10,750 | 92% | $125,340 | $12,307 |
| California State University-Monterey BayCalifornia · Public | 12 | $11,000 | 63% | $63,891 | $13,861 |
| CUNY City CollegeNew York · Public | 13 | $11,695 | 50% | $69,594 | $1,557 |
| University of California-Santa Barbara UCSBCalifornia · Public | 14 | $11,776 | 84% | $82,568 | $16,807 |
| CUNY Hunter CollegeNew York · Public | 15 | $11,908 | 59% | $70,502 | $1,051 |
| Yale UniversityConnecticut · Private nonprofit | 16 | $11,982 | 96% | $118,356 | $11,340 |
| Colgate UniversityNew York · Private nonprofit | 17 | $12,000 | 89% | $96,328 | $29,409 |
| Cornell University-New YorkNew York · Private nonprofit | 18 | $12,000 | 95% | $113,531 | $33,934 |
| Dunwoody College of TechnologyMinnesota · Private nonprofit | 19 | $12,000 | 53% | $69,458 | $27,153 |
| Emory University-Main CampusGeorgia · Private nonprofit | 20 | $12,000 | 91% | $93,897 | $16,754 |
| Fashion Institute of Technology FITNew York · Public | 21 | $12,000 | 81% | $72,055 | $16,514 |
| Johns Hopkins UniversityMaryland · Private nonprofit | 22 | $12,000 | 93% | $104,590 | $18,431 |
| New College of FloridaFlorida · Public | 23 | $12,000 | 62% | $53,164 | $8,222 |
| SUNY College of Technology at AlfredNew York · Public | 24 | $12,000 | 53% | $56,988 | $14,079 |
| University of ChicagoIllinois · Private nonprofit | 25 | $12,000 | 95% | $103,872 | $16,776 |
| University of California-DavisCalifornia · Public | 26 | $12,038 | 86% | $86,999 | $14,318 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Main CampusNorth Carolina · Public | 27 | $12,086 | 91% | $81,094 | $11,305 |
| Bates CollegeMaine · Private nonprofit | 28 | $12,250 | 88% | $98,373 | $27,390 |
| Brigham Young University-Provo BYU UtahUtah · Private nonprofit | 29 | $12,250 | 81% | $80,228 | $13,397 |
| CUNY Brooklyn CollegeNew York · Public | 30 | $12,250 | 53% | $66,519 | $950 |
| The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyTexas · Public | 31 | $12,250 | 55% | $52,947 | $4,858 |
| Princeton UniversityNew Jersey · Private nonprofit | 32 | $12,400 | 97% | $133,523 | $7,815 |
| University of California-Berkeley CALCalifornia · Public | 33 | $12,416 | 94% | $100,212 | $14,538 |
| CUNY Bernard M Baruch CollegeNew York · Public | 34 | $12,500 | 70% | $83,742 | $657 |
| Parker UniversityTexas · Private nonprofit | 35 | $12,500 | 83% | $56,771 | $28,806 |
| Western Governors UniversityUtah · Private nonprofit | 36 | $12,500 | 50% | $76,999 | $12,748 |
| University of California-Irvine UCICalifornia · Public | 37 | $12,821 | 87% | $83,432 | $13,866 |
| California State University-StanislausCalifornia · Public | 38 | $13,000 | 52% | $65,560 | $3,565 |
| Dartmouth CollegeNew Hampshire · Private nonprofit | 39 | $13,000 | 95% | $111,162 | $26,707 |
| Duke UniversityNorth Carolina · Private nonprofit | 40 | $13,000 | 96% | $113,937 | $23,706 |
| Florida State University-Main CampusFlorida · Public | 41 | $13,000 | 86% | $68,225 | $8,605 |
| Rice UniversityTexas · Private nonprofit | 42 | $13,000 | 95% | $90,773 | $11,164 |
| Southern Utah UniversityUtah · Public | 43 | $13,000 | 62% | $53,925 | $10,887 |
| University of California-San Diego UCSDCalifornia · Public | 44 | $13,000 | 86% | $96,197 | $14,794 |
| California State University-FresnoCalifornia · Public | 45 | $13,156 | 58% | $62,756 | $5,418 |
| Amherst CollegeMassachusetts · Private nonprofit | 46 | $13,250 | 93% | $95,161 | $19,536 |
| Claremont McKenna College CMCCalifornia · Private nonprofit | 47 | $13,450 | 90% | $127,532 | $26,039 |
| University of FloridaFlorida · Public | 48 | $13,496 | 92% | $78,456 | $5,969 |
| University of Florida-OnlineFlorida · Public | 49 | $13,496 | 83% | $78,456 | $4,336 |
| Scripps CollegeCalifornia · Private nonprofit | 50 | $13,500 | 84% | $84,025 | $29,998 |
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Use this for your family
These are medians. Your price and payback depend on your income, your state and the college, so run the numbers for the colleges on your list.
Methodology
- Colleges counted
- Every college published on CollegesRef that is public or private nonprofit, in a four-year Carnegie class (doctoral, master's or baccalaureate), in the 50 states or D.C., with at least 500 undergraduates and both figures reported in the College Scorecard.
- Criteria
- This list keeps four-year colleges that graduate at least 50% of students, then ranks them by median federal debt at graduation. Closed colleges are left out.
3 more notes: exclusions, definitions, what it leaves out
- Exclusions
- For-profit colleges, two-year colleges, special-focus institutions, colleges with fewer undergraduates than the minimum, U.S. territories and colleges missing either figure are left out. Earnings figures without a federal reporting year are excluded.
- Definitions
- Median earnings are former students' earnings ten years after entry (College Scorecard MD_EARN_WNE_P10). Average net price is cost of attendance minus average grants for aided first-time, full-time students (NPT4). Median debt is federal loan debt at graduation (GRAD_DEBT_MDN). Graduation rate is the IPEDS rate reported in the Scorecard.
- What it leaves out
- A ranking on federal figures says nothing about teaching, fit or programs. Earnings are before tax and not specific to a major; prices are averages, so your family's price depends on its income and the college's aid.
Read the CollegesRef methodology for how college data is checked, or browse all data stories.
Sources
- Data
- U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, which reports these figures from the IPEDS surveys and federal student aid records; Carnegie classes from IPEDS.
- Edition
- 2026–27, data verified Nov 2026
- Source data
- Latest College Scorecard release
- Last updated
- November 15, 2026
- Next check
- November 16, 2026. The figures are recomputed weekly and change only when the federal data does.
- License
- Federal data is a U.S. government work in the public domain. CollegesRef's tables, charts and CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page.
- Downloads
- CSVMarkdown (for AI tools)
Frequently asked questions
Short answers about how the numbers work.
How is this list ranked?
CollegesRef keeps four-year colleges that graduate at least 50% of students, and ranks them by median federal debt at graduation, lowest first. 898 colleges qualify; the top 50 are shown and the CSV holds the same rows.
Which college ranks first?
Berea College (Kentucky, private nonprofit), with median federal debt at graduation of $5,500. The median qualifying college reports $21,500.
Where does the data come from?
The U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard (latest data), which reports IPEDS cost and graduation figures and federal earnings and debt records. CollegesRef recomputes the list weekly from the latest snapshot.
How to cite
Credit CollegesRef and link to this story; the CSV above carries every figure on this page. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a visible link to this page. Questions go to Data and press.
Related guides and tools
Step-by-step explanations of the figures, written from the same federal data.