The 25 colleges where students graduate with the most debt
College isn't cheap. Students graduate from these 25 institutions with the highest median federal debt.
Abraham Gonzalez Fernandez/Getty Images
- College isn't cheap.
- Fifteen universities have sticker prices of at least $100,000.
- It's no wonder that there's $1.724 trillion of federal student debt in the US.
It's back-to-school season — and that means that some bright-eyed college freshmen and their proud families are getting ready to shell out six figures to attend their dream schools.
Tuition prices have soared in recent decades, even as Americans have grown more skeptical of the value of a four-year degree.
Still, there's a significant number of young adults in college. In 2024, 19.28 million students were enrolled in college, down from the peak of 21 million in 2010, per the Education Data Initiative.
For some of those students, pursuing a degree was only possible by taking out loans, either federal or private.
Business Insider used the Department of Education's College Scorecard to identify the 25 universities whose students graduate with the highest median federal debt.
For the ranking, we considered main campuses with at least 500 undergraduate students that predominantly offer bachelor's degrees. The DOE does not track private loans or federal Parent PLUS loans, so this ranking does not reflect all the debt students and their families may take on to pay for university.
The list includes public, private nonprofit, for-profit, and primarily online institutions.
One major trend stood out: A majority of the top 25 colleges — 56% — are historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
HBCU students borrow at a higher rate than non-HBCU students, and they tend to borrow more, according to UNCF, which has linked this higher borrowing to greater "unmet financial need" among HBCU students.
Marybeth Gasman, executive director of the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions, told Business Insider that HBCUs often have fewer resources to offer institutional aid.
"They have lower endowments and smaller operating budgets than many comparable PWIs (predominantly white institutions)," she said.
"It is important that students take out the least amount of aid, but that can be difficult when people have needs," she said, adding that some students also take out loans to support their families.
With that context in mind, here are the 25 US universities where students graduate with the highest median federal debt.
25. Albertus Magnus College — New Haven, ConnecticutJon Bilous/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Median debt: $30,964
13 (tie). American InterContinental University — Chandler, ArizonaMattGush/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Median debt: $31,000
13 (tie). Texas College — Tyler, TexasBOB WESTON/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Median debt: $31,000
13 (tie). South Carolina State University — Orangeburg, South CarolinaBrandon Bell/Getty Images
Median debt: $31,000
13 (tie). Southern University at New Orleans — New OrleansArt Wager/Getty Images
Median debt: $31,000
13 (tie). Dillard University — New OrleansKathleen Flynn for the Washington Post/Getty Images
Median debt: $31,000
13 (tie). Fort Valley State University — Fort Valley, GeorgiaGoogle Mapsa
Median debt: $31,000
13 (tie). Bethune-Cookman University — Daytona Beach, FloridaJerry Ballard/Getty Images
Median debt: $31,000
13 (tie). Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design — Lakewood, ColoradoAndy Cross/The Denver Post/Getty Images
Median debt: $31,000
13 (tie). ArtCenter College of Design — Pasadena, CaliforniaLawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Median debt: $31,000
13 (tie). Academy of Art University — San FranciscoSmith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
Median debt: $31,000
13 (tie). Alabama State University — Montgomery, AlabamaKruck20/Getty Images/iStock
Median debt: $31,000
13 (tie). Alabama A&M University — Normal, AlabamaChrisBoswell/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Median debt: $31,000
12. Livingstone College — Salisbury, North CarolinaGoogle Maps
Median debt: $31,125
11. Miles College — Fairfield, AlabamaGoogle Maps
Median debt: $31,217
9 (tie) Peirce College — PhiladelphiaRenata Tyburczy/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Median debt: $31,250
9 (tie). University of Arizona Global Campus — Chandler, ArizonaSoliton/Getty Images/iStock
Median debt: $31,250
8. University of Phoenix - Arizona — PhoenixKevin Abele/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
Median debt: $31,553
6 (tie). Benedict College — Columbia, South CarolinaCecil Williams/Claflin University/Getty Images
Median debt: $32,500
6 (tie). Shaw University — Raleigh, North Carolinazimmytws/Getty Images/iStock
Median debt: $32,500
5. West Coast University - Texas — Richardson, TexasLone Star Stock/Getty Images/iStock
Median debt: $32,946
4. Allen University — Columbia, South CarolinaKruck20/Getty Images/iStock
Median debt: $34,290
3. Grambling State University — Grambling, LouisianaMarcus Jones/Getty Images/iStock
Median debt: $36,500
2. Everglades University — Boca Raton, Florida6381380/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Median debt: $38,996
1. Provo College — Provo, UtahBrett Taylor/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Median debt: $41,733
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