Lowest Student Debt at 4-Year Colleges
Borrowing is where a college decision follows you for a decade. This ranking sorts four-year colleges by the median federal loan debt of students who completed their degree. Typical figures range from $3,591 at the lowest to $41,733 at the highest among qualifying schools.
We ranked 1,527 four-year colleges with at least 500 undergraduates and a published debt figure, and show the 50 with the least. The median is $22,940, and the school in 50th place is at $9,500. Berea College ranks first, and Florida has the most entries with 12. A typical monthly payment across qualifying schools is $243.
Low debt can reflect low prices, generous aid or students who simply borrow less. Only federal loans are counted, so private loans and parent borrowing do not appear. A school with little debt but poor outcomes is not automatically a good choice.
A low-debt school can still be expensive if students pay with savings or parent loans, so combine this list with the net price rankings before drawing conclusions about affordability.
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 graduate debt, lowest 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 graduate debt value (schools without one are not ranked)
- Data period
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Monthly payment: median graduate debt on a standard 10-year repayment plan.
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- 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 1,527 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Berea College Berea, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $3,591 | $38 | $6,106 | $42,924 | 60% |
| 2 | Alvin Community College Alvin, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $4,519 | $48 | $8,525 | $66,597 | 24% |
| 3 | San Diego Mesa College San Diego, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $4,725 | $50 | $5,814 | $50,709 | 34% |
| 4 | North American University Stafford, TX Private nonprofit · 4-year · Open admission | $4,925 | $52 | $18,721 | $56,795 | 29% |
| 5 | Del Mar College Corpus Christi, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $5,500 | $58 | $3,399 | $57,250 | 12% |
| 6 | De Anza College Cupertino, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $5,625 | $60 | $6,642 | $60,322 | — |
| 7 | College of the Mainland Texas City, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $5,960 | $63 | $1,342 | $58,013 | 30% |
| 8 | Cascadia College Bothell, WA Public · 4-year · Open admission | $6,368 | $68 | $12,281 | $50,202 | 37% |
| 9 | Santa Monica College Santa Monica, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $6,450 | $68 | $2,779 | $46,731 | 36% |
| 10 | Saint Louis Community College Bridgeton, MO Public · 4-year · Open admission | $6,725 | $71 | $8,440 | $48,396 | 19% |
| 11 | San Diego Miramar College San Diego, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $6,750 | $72 | $3,337 | $53,936 | — |
| 12 | Lake-Sumter State College Leesburg, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $6,750 | $72 | $5,855 | $46,194 | 46% |
| 13 | Cochise County Community College District Sierra Vista, AZ Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $6,750 | $72 | $7,929 | $53,908 | 30% |
| 14 | Zane State College Zanesville, OH Public · 4-year · Open admission | $6,834 | $72 | $8,062 | $41,949 | 49% |
| 15 | Snow College Ephraim, UT Public · 4-year · Open admission | $7,000 | $74 | $5,552 | $38,946 | 45% |
| 16 | Palm Beach State College Lake Worth, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $7,081 | $75 | $9,182 | $48,635 | 41% |
| 17 | Gulf Coast State College Panama City, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | $7,147 | $76 | $4,709 | $52,051 | 44% |
| 18 | South Florida State College Avon Park, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $7,368 | $78 | $3,877 | $48,619 | 49% |
| 19 | Collin County Community College District McKinney, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission | $7,500 | $80 | $8,969 | $55,094 | 21% |
| 20 | Broward College Fort Lauderdale, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $7,500 | $80 | $14,506 | $49,843 | 38% |
| 21 | Pensacola State College Pensacola, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | $7,500 | $80 | $3,957 | $45,937 | 39% |
| 22 | Tallahassee State College Tallahassee, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $7,668 | $81 | $7,781 | $52,652 | 37% |
| 23 | San Diego City College San Diego, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $7,689 | $82 | $7,935 | $40,124 | — |
| 24 | Odessa College Odessa, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $7,750 | $82 | $6,368 | $53,686 | 32% |
| 25 | Northwest Florida State College Niceville, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | $7,932 | $84 | $4,571 | $52,556 | 41% |
| 26 | College of Southern Nevada Las Vegas, NV Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $8,000 | $85 | $6,615 | $51,080 | 19% |
| 27 | Florida SouthWestern State College Fort Myers, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $8,000 | $85 | $7,247 | $53,901 | 39% |
| 28 | College of Southern Idaho Twin Falls, ID Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $8,000 | $85 | $6,095 | $46,129 | 34% |
| 29 | Indian River State College Fort Pierce, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $8,023 | $85 | $3,815 | $47,615 | 44% |
| 30 | Daytona State College Daytona Beach, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $8,250 | $87 | $7,177 | $49,001 | 42% |
| 31 | North Central State College Mansfield, OH Public · 4-year · Open admission | $8,252 | $87 | $4,687 | $53,401 | 35% |
| 32 | Las Vegas College Las Vegas, NV For-profit · 4-year · Open admission | $8,279 | $88 | $29,880 | $42,732 | 57% |
| 33 | Marion Technical College Marion, OH Public · 4-year · Open admission | $8,300 | $88 | $7,417 | $50,593 | 28% |
| 34 | Central Wyoming College Riverton, WY Public · 4-year · Open admission | $8,361 | $89 | $11,634 | $43,068 | 39% |
| 35 | Georgia Military College Milledgeville, GA Public · 4-year · Open admission | $8,563 | $91 | $16,923 | $39,508 | 35% |
| 36 | Lone Star College System The Woodlands, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $8,600 | $91 | $11,252 | $52,634 | 20% |
| 37 | Northern Wyoming Community College District Sheridan, WY Public · 4-year · Open admission | $8,622 | $91 | $9,346 | $51,958 | — |
| 38 | United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point, NY Public · 4-year | $8,833 | $94 | $6,174 | $92,950 | 81% |
| 39 | MiraCosta College Oceanside, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $9,000 | $95 | $7,339 | — | 41% |
| 40 | Pikes Peak State College Colorado Springs, CO Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $9,000 | $95 | $6,007 | $48,538 | 22% |
| 41 | State College of Florida-Manatee-Sarasota Bradenton, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $9,000 | $95 | $22,356 | $55,922 | 37% |
| 42 | Western Wyoming Community College Rock Springs, WY Public · 4-year · Open admission | $9,000 | $95 | $6,591 | $52,871 | 33% |
| 43 | Alpena Community College Alpena, MI Public · 4-year · Open admission | $9,024 | $96 | $3,320 | $44,378 | 51% |
| 44 | Big Bend Community College Moses Lake, WA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $9,166 | $97 | $12,210 | $48,868 | 39% |
| 45 | Northwest Vista College San Antonio, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $9,400 | $100 | $4,525 | $46,909 | 32% |
| 46 | Brigham Young University-Hawaii Laie, HI Private nonprofit · 4-year | $9,413 | $100 | $16,774 | — | 54% |
| 47 | Dallas College Dallas, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $9,500 | $101 | $3,214 | $53,130 | 34% |
| 48 | San Jacinto Community College Pasadena, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $9,500 | $101 | $12,143 | $52,809 | 32% |
| 49 | Moorpark College Moorpark, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $9,500 | $101 | — | $77,599 | 44% |
| 50 | Highline College Des Moines, WA Public · 4-year · Open admission | $9,500 | $101 | $9,879 | $59,261 | 37% |
States with schools on this list
Browse every college in these states.