Colleges With the Highest Loan Payment Burden
Debt alone does not show how hard it is to repay. What matters is how much of a graduate’s paycheck the payments consume. This ranking divides the typical annual loan payment on a ten-year plan by median earnings four years after finishing, and lists the schools with the highest share.
We calculated this for 1,518 four-year colleges with at least 500 undergraduates and data for both debt and earnings, and show the top 50. The median share is 4.6%, the highest is 12% and the school in 50th place is at 7.8%. Allen University ranks first, and Florida has the most entries with 6. Median graduate earnings across qualifying schools are $59,490.
Many financial planners suggest keeping student loan payments in single digits as a share of income. A high share is a warning sign about affordability, particularly for programs with modest pay. Compare with the other debt rankings.
Our student loan calculator can estimate your own monthly payment, which you can then compare with the share shown here to see whether your plan is more or less comfortable than average.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- All 4-year colleges (public, private nonprofit and for-profit)
- Ranked by payment share of earnings, highest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- A reported payment share of earnings value (schools without one are not ranked)
- Data period
- Payment share: annual loan payments as a share of median earnings four years after completing.
- Monthly payment: median graduate debt on a standard 10-year repayment plan.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing the top 50 of 1,518 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Allen University Columbia, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year · HBCU | 12% | $364 | $34,290 | $36,436 | 13% |
| 2 | Manhattan School of Music New York, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 11.3% | $286 | $26,994 | $30,305 | 78% |
| 3 | Beacon College Leesburg, FL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 10.7% | $265 | $25,000 | $29,712 | 59% |
| 4 | Livingstone College Salisbury, NC Private nonprofit · 4-year · HBCU | 10.6% | $330 | $31,125 | $37,280 | 26% |
| 5 | Laurus College San Luis Obispo, CA For-profit · 4-year · Open admission | 10.5% | $344 | $32,416 | $39,388 | 41% |
| 6 | Provo College Provo, UT For-profit · 4-year · Open admission | 10.3% | $442 | $41,733 | $51,307 | 53% |
| 7 | Benedict College Columbia, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year · HBCU | 10% | $345 | $32,500 | $41,293 | 23% |
| 8 | Lane College Jackson, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year · Open admission · HBCU | 10% | $323 | $30,500 | $38,716 | 18% |
| 9 | Grambling State University Grambling, LA Public · 4-year · HBCU | 9.9% | $387 | $36,500 | $47,043 | 34% |
| 10 | Los Angeles Film School Hollywood, CA For-profit · 4-year · Open admission | 9.6% | $268 | $25,250 | $33,557 | 42% |
| 11 | Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design Lakewood, CO For-profit · 4-year · Open admission | 9.5% | $329 | $31,000 | $41,363 | 34% |
| 12 | Hampshire College Amherst, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 9.4% | $285 | $26,893 | $36,500 | 56% |
| 13 | Kansas City Art Institute Kansas City, MO Private nonprofit · 4-year | 9.4% | $286 | $27,000 | $36,640 | 62% |
| 14 | Shaw University Raleigh, NC Private nonprofit · 4-year · HBCU | 9.3% | $345 | $32,500 | $44,468 | 21% |
| 15 | Talladega College Talladega, AL Private nonprofit · 4-year · HBCU | 9.2% | $302 | $28,500 | $39,579 | 43% |
| 16 | Central State University Wilberforce, OH Public · 4-year · HBCU | 9.1% | $326 | $30,739 | $42,843 | 24% |
| 17 | California Institute of the Arts Valencia, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 9% | $265 | $25,000 | $35,256 | 65% |
| 18 | Tougaloo College Tougaloo, MS Private nonprofit · 4-year · HBCU | 9% | $319 | $30,046 | $42,641 | 33% |
| 19 | Texas College Tyler, TX Private nonprofit · 4-year · Open admission · HBCU | 9% | $329 | $31,000 | $43,887 | 12% |
| 20 | Fort Valley State University Fort Valley, GA Public · 4-year · HBCU | 8.8% | $329 | $31,000 | $44,844 | 43% |
| 21 | Mississippi Valley State University Itta Bena, MS Public · 4-year · HBCU | 8.8% | $301 | $28,413 | $40,972 | 24% |
| 22 | Warren Wilson College Swannanoa, NC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.7% | $265 | $25,000 | $36,684 | 42% |
| 23 | Stillman College Tuscaloosa, AL Private nonprofit · 4-year · HBCU | 8.7% | $308 | $29,067 | $42,622 | 32% |
| 24 | Alabama State University Montgomery, AL Public · 4-year · HBCU | 8.6% | $329 | $31,000 | $45,998 | 30% |
| 25 | Bethune-Cookman University Daytona Beach, FL Private nonprofit · 4-year · HBCU | 8.6% | $329 | $31,000 | $46,007 | 29% |
| 26 | Florida National University-Main Campus Hialeah, FL For-profit · 4-year · Open admission | 8.6% | $292 | $27,554 | $40,934 | 30% |
| 27 | Chowan University Murfreesboro, NC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.6% | $313 | $29,491 | $43,702 | 29% |
| 28 | Full Sail University Winter Park, FL For-profit · 4-year · Open admission | 8.5% | $286 | $27,000 | $40,367 | 47% |
| 29 | Bennington College Bennington, VT Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.5% | $276 | $26,000 | $38,899 | 69% |
| 30 | South Carolina State University Orangeburg, SC Public · 4-year · HBCU | 8.4% | $329 | $31,000 | $46,691 | 33% |
| 31 | Claflin University Orangeburg, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year · HBCU | 8.4% | $307 | $29,000 | $43,925 | 50% |
| 32 | Jarvis Christian University Hawkins, TX Private nonprofit · 4-year · Open admission · HBCU | 8.4% | $286 | $27,000 | $40,867 | 15% |
| 33 | Everglades University Boca Raton, FL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.3% | $413 | $38,996 | $59,470 | 59% |
| 34 | Southern University at New Orleans New Orleans, LA Public · 4-year · HBCU | 8.3% | $329 | $31,000 | $47,240 | 16% |
| 35 | Johnson C Smith University Charlotte, NC Private nonprofit · 4-year · HBCU | 8.2% | $318 | $30,000 | $46,511 | 34% |
| 36 | Florida Memorial University Miami Gardens, FL Private nonprofit · 4-year · HBCU | 8.2% | $319 | $30,063 | $46,572 | 31% |
| 37 | Columbus College of Art & Design Columbus, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.2% | $286 | $27,000 | $41,994 | 59% |
| 38 | Minneapolis College of Art and Design Minneapolis, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.2% | $286 | $27,000 | $41,825 | 59% |
| 39 | Cleveland Institute of Art Cleveland, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.2% | $286 | $27,000 | $41,829 | 62% |
| 40 | Jackson State University Jackson, MS Public · 4-year · HBCU | 8.1% | $323 | $30,470 | $47,606 | 41% |
| 41 | Dillard University New Orleans, LA Private nonprofit · 4-year · HBCU | 8.1% | $329 | $31,000 | $48,421 | 44% |
| 42 | Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design Milwaukee, WI Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.1% | $286 | $27,000 | $42,304 | 65% |
| 43 | School of Visual Arts New York, NY For-profit · 4-year | 8% | $286 | $27,000 | $42,822 | 75% |
| 44 | Maryland Institute College of Art Baltimore, MD Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8% | $281 | $26,500 | $42,353 | 72% |
| 45 | Young Harris College Young Harris, GA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8% | $286 | $27,000 | $43,173 | 44% |
| 46 | Wiley University Marshall, TX Private nonprofit · 4-year · Open admission · HBCU | 8% | $265 | $24,989 | $39,988 | 22% |
| 47 | Berklee College of Music Boston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 7.8% | $265 | $25,000 | $41,028 | 67% |
| 48 | American InterContinental University System Chandler, AZ For-profit · 4-year · Open admission | 7.8% | $329 | $31,000 | $50,399 | 13% |
| 49 | Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA For-profit · 4-year · Open admission | 7.8% | $329 | $31,000 | $50,255 | 38% |
| 50 | Hollins University Roanoke, VA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 7.8% | $286 | $27,000 | $44,151 | 67% |
States with schools on this list
Browse every college in these states.