College ranking

Lowest debt-to-earnings ratio (median debt ÷ six-year earnings)

College Scorecard + IPEDS Last updated: May 2026

Executive Summary

Illustrative burden ratio: median debt for completers divided by median earnings six years after entry, shown as debt as a percent of earnings (lower is lighter burden). Only shown where both values are positive. United States Merchant Marine Academy leads this list at 9.1% (Debt as % of earnings).

Leaders: top 3

United States Merchant Marine Academy

Debt as % of earnings 9.1%

NY · Public

Berea College

Debt as % of earnings 10.1%

KY · Private nonprofit

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Debt as % of earnings 11.2%

MA · Private nonprofit

Top 100 Lowest debt-to-earnings ratio (median debt ÷ six-year earnings)

Rank	Institution	State	Control	Enrollment	Debt as % of earnings	Also see
1	United States Merchant Marine Academy	NY	Public	962	9.1%	Debt $8,833 · 6yr $96,770
2	Berea College	KY	Private nonprofit	1,513	10.1%	Debt $3,591 · 6yr $35,676
3	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	Private nonprofit	4,535	11.2%	Debt $14,768 · 6yr $131,633
4	Stanford University	CA	Private nonprofit	7,554	11.7%	Debt $12,000 · 6yr $102,887
5	Princeton University	NJ	Private nonprofit	5,709	11.8%	Debt $10,320 · 6yr $87,815
6	Johns Hopkins University	MD	Private nonprofit	5,693	11.9%	Debt $10,250 · 6yr $86,306
7	Rice University	TX	Private nonprofit	4,776	13.8%	Debt $11,000 · 6yr $79,751
8	Harvard University	MA	Private nonprofit	7,601	14.1%	Debt $14,000 · 6yr $99,572
9	Brown University	RI	Private nonprofit	7,226	14.4%	Debt $11,428 · 6yr $79,131
10	Samuel Merritt University	CA	Private nonprofit	718	14.5%	Debt $20,825 · 6yr $143,353
11	Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center	TX	Public	1,482	14.6%	Debt $12,268 · 6yr $84,007
12	The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston	TX	Public	465	14.6%	Debt $13,063 · 6yr $89,371
13	Duke University	NC	Private nonprofit	6,442	15.2%	Debt $13,000 · 6yr $85,792
14	Wellesley College	MA	Private nonprofit	2,300	15.2%	Debt $10,000 · 6yr $65,961
15	University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis	MO	Private nonprofit	337	15.3%	Debt $17,755 · 6yr $116,360
16	North American University	TX	Private nonprofit	609	15.3%	Debt $4,925 · 6yr $32,221
17	Claremont McKenna College	CA	Private nonprofit	1,388	15.4%	Debt $13,500 · 6yr $87,603
18	Yale University	CT	Private nonprofit	6,758	15.9%	Debt $12,975 · 6yr $81,765
19	Cornell University	NY	Private nonprofit	15,995	15.9%	Debt $14,000 · 6yr $87,830
20	Western Governors University	UT	Private nonprofit	155,088	16.0%	Debt $11,116 · 6yr $69,572
21	The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston	TX	Public	545	16.2%	Debt $13,396 · 6yr $82,535
22	Oregon Health & Science University	OR	Public	836	16.7%	Debt $16,625 · 6yr $99,818
23	Albizu University-San Juan	PR	Private nonprofit	728	17.1%	Debt $5,500 · 6yr $32,168
24	The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center	TX	Public	334	17.1%	Debt $12,500 · 6yr $72,924
25	University of California-Berkeley	CA	Public	33,068	17.4%	Debt $13,000 · 6yr $74,919
26	University of Pennsylvania	PA	Private nonprofit	10,650	17.4%	Debt $15,715 · 6yr $90,555
27	Williams College	MA	Private nonprofit	2,076	17.8%	Debt $12,761 · 6yr $71,754
28	University of Maryland Baltimore	MD	Public	958	18.1%	Debt $15,000 · 6yr $82,754
29	The University of Tennessee Health Science Center	TN	Public	394	18.2%	Debt $12,500 · 6yr $68,668
30	CUNY Graduate School and University Center	NY	Public	3,254	18.3%	Debt $12,584 · 6yr $68,616
31	Florida Polytechnic University	FL	Public	1,689	18.4%	Debt $14,250 · 6yr $77,545
32	Franklin W Olin College of Engineering	MA	Private nonprofit	377	18.5%	Debt $19,500 · 6yr $105,483
33	University of Chicago	IL	Private nonprofit	7,569	18.5%	Debt $15,000 · 6yr $80,870
34	Georgetown University	DC	Private nonprofit	7,569	18.6%	Debt $15,500 · 6yr $83,222
35	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	NY	Public	16,154	18.7%	Debt $11,512 · 6yr $61,542
36	Brigham Young University	UT	Private nonprofit	32,952	18.9%	Debt $11,069 · 6yr $58,450
37	Vanderbilt University	TN	Private nonprofit	7,208	18.9%	Debt $14,000 · 6yr $73,909
38	Thomas Edison State University	NJ	Public	6,707	19.1%	Debt $12,500 · 6yr $65,570
39	Medical University of South Carolina	SC	Public	303	19.3%	Debt $15,000 · 6yr $77,677
40	Pomona College	CA	Private nonprofit	1,666	19.4%	Debt $11,782 · 6yr $60,850
41	Northwestern University	IL	Private nonprofit	9,201	19.5%	Debt $15,000 · 6yr $76,844
42	Scripps College	CA	Private nonprofit	1,113	19.8%	Debt $13,500 · 6yr $68,027
43	Lafayette College	PA	Private nonprofit	2,757	19.8%	Debt $16,000 · 6yr $80,614
44	Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing	NY	Private nonprofit	311	19.9%	Debt $19,750 · 6yr $99,344
45	The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio	TX	Public	930	20.3%	Debt $15,000 · 6yr $73,887
46	Carnegie Mellon University	PA	Private nonprofit	7,304	20.6%	Debt $21,750 · 6yr $105,360
47	Santa Clara University	CA	Private nonprofit	6,552	21.0%	Debt $19,162 · 6yr $91,198
48	University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences	AR	Public	1,571	21.1%	Debt $14,000 · 6yr $66,491
49	Dartmouth College	NH	Private nonprofit	4,541	21.2%	Debt $17,500 · 6yr $82,541
50	CUNY Queens College	NY	Public	12,550	21.2%	Debt $10,298 · 6yr $48,548
51	University of Nebraska Medical Center	NE	Public	938	21.3%	Debt $15,000 · 6yr $70,417
52	CUNY Lehman College	NY	Public	10,696	21.4%	Debt $10,950 · 6yr $51,067
53	Excelsior University	NY	Private nonprofit	11,550	21.6%	Debt $13,769 · 6yr $63,796
54	Harvey Mudd College	CA	Private nonprofit	921	21.7%	Debt $25,000 · 6yr $115,107
55	CUNY Hunter College	NY	Public	16,289	21.8%	Debt $11,000 · 6yr $50,414
56	CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice	NY	Public	11,590	21.9%	Debt $11,000 · 6yr $50,293
57	Babson College	MA	Private nonprofit	2,728	21.9%	Debt $20,000 · 6yr $91,354
58	Amherst College	MA	Private nonprofit	1,911	22.0%	Debt $13,740 · 6yr $62,537
59	University of Notre Dame	IN	Private nonprofit	8,818	22.0%	Debt $19,000 · 6yr $86,210
60	Boricua College	NY	Private nonprofit	391	22.1%	Debt $6,733 · 6yr $30,398
61	Boston College	MA	Private nonprofit	10,085	22.2%	Debt $19,000 · 6yr $85,717
62	University of California-Davis	CA	Public	32,253	22.2%	Debt $13,000 · 6yr $58,461
63	Washington University in St Louis	MO	Private nonprofit	7,857	22.4%	Debt $17,500 · 6yr $78,073
64	Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences	NY	Private nonprofit	481	22.6%	Debt $25,500 · 6yr $112,685
65	SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry	NY	Public	1,839	22.8%	Debt $11,000 · 6yr $48,327
66	University of Puerto Rico at Cayey	PR	Public	2,069	22.9%	Debt $5,000 · 6yr $21,819
67	Thomas Jefferson University	PA	Private nonprofit	3,755	22.9%	Debt $14,744 · 6yr $64,335
68	University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo	PR	Public	2,669	23.0%	Debt $4,500 · 6yr $19,546
69	Colgate University	NY	Private nonprofit	3,180	23.1%	Debt $15,000 · 6yr $64,949
70	University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA	Public	31,942	23.2%	Debt $14,615 · 6yr $62,979
71	University of Washington-Bothell Campus	WA	Public	5,457	23.2%	Debt $14,615 · 6yr $62,979
72	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus	WA	Public	4,185	23.2%	Debt $14,615 · 6yr $62,979
73	Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing	MO	Private nonprofit	446	23.3%	Debt $16,750 · 6yr $71,761
74	University of California-San Diego	CA	Public	34,948	23.6%	Debt $15,500 · 6yr $65,669
75	Loma Linda University	CA	Private nonprofit	909	23.6%	Debt $20,854 · 6yr $88,185
76	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	Public	33,475	23.7%	Debt $14,000 · 6yr $59,063
77	Tufts University	MA	Private nonprofit	7,061	23.8%	Debt $16,250 · 6yr $68,337
78	CUNY York College	NY	Public	4,345	23.8%	Debt $11,000 · 6yr $46,148
79	Brigham Young University-Hawaii	HI	Private nonprofit	2,889	23.9%	Debt $9,413 · 6yr $39,316
80	San Jose State University	CA	Public	27,601	24.0%	Debt $15,000 · 6yr $62,448
81	Bates College	ME	Private nonprofit	1,760	24.1%	Debt $14,275 · 6yr $59,202
82	University of Southern California	CA	Private nonprofit	20,443	24.2%	Debt $18,000 · 6yr $74,461
83	University of Virginia-Main Campus	VA	Public	17,597	24.2%	Debt $17,500 · 6yr $72,359
84	Middlebury College	VT	Private nonprofit	2,738	24.2%	Debt $13,857 · 6yr $57,291
85	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	GA	Public	18,785	24.2%	Debt $21,672 · 6yr $89,432
86	Columbia University in the City of New York	NY	Private nonprofit	8,973	24.3%	Debt $21,500 · 6yr $88,535
87	Emory University	GA	Private nonprofit	7,298	24.3%	Debt $18,250 · 6yr $74,980
88	CUNY Brooklyn College	NY	Public	10,543	24.4%	Debt $11,000 · 6yr $45,035
89	University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras	PR	Public	8,572	24.5%	Debt $5,500 · 6yr $22,417
90	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	Public	20,752	24.5%	Debt $14,000 · 6yr $57,057
91	University of Puerto Rico at Ponce	PR	Public	2,278	24.5%	Debt $5,500 · 6yr $22,404
92	University of Puerto Rico	PR	Public	2,851	24.6%	Debt $5,500 · 6yr $22,382
93	University of California-Santa Barbara	CA	Public	23,113	24.6%	Debt $13,993 · 6yr $56,852
94	University of Puerto Rico-Carolina	PR	Public	2,404	24.6%	Debt $5,500 · 6yr $22,317
95	Lehigh University	PA	Private nonprofit	5,898	24.7%	Debt $21,960 · 6yr $88,810
96	Chamberlain University-Illinois	IL	Private for-profit	14,027	24.7%	Debt $20,919 · 6yr $84,533
97	Chamberlain University-Texas	TX	Private for-profit	2,270	24.7%	Debt $20,919 · 6yr $84,533
98	Chamberlain University-Georgia	GA	Private for-profit	1,940	24.7%	Debt $20,919 · 6yr $84,533
99	Chamberlain University-New Jersey	NJ	Private for-profit	1,226	24.7%	Debt $20,919 · 6yr $84,533
100	Chamberlain University-Florida	FL	Private for-profit	821	24.7%	Debt $20,919 · 6yr $84,533

Method notes

Underlying institution file: EDsmart Data processed College Scorecard extract merged to the IPEDS 2024 directory for HBCU and Carnegie fields.
Cohort applied on this page: enrollment floor of 200 undergraduates; sorted lowest first on Debt as % of earnings; 1,585 campuses met every filter and the top 100 are published.
Ties on the ranked metric are broken by enrollment, then institution name, so ranks stay stable between rebuilds.
ROI column matches the processed college_roi_rankings series in this site build; see College Scorecard ROI methodology.
How the 10-year ROI figure is built: median earnings reported 6, 8, and 10 years after entry (years 7 and 9 linearly interpolated) are summed across years 6–10, then average annual net price × typical years enrolled (five for bachelor’s-predominant campuses) is subtracted. It is a nominal-dollar gap—not discounted to present value, and it does not subtract earnings foregone while enrolled or compare against a no-college baseline. Campuses reporting only one of the three earnings years are excluded from these tables.
School profile links use generated slugs; not every campus has a published profile page yet—use the Scorecard site as fallback.

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