How do colleges compare on student indebtedness at graduation?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Recently the Wall Street Journal ran an article on student borrowings and how they have increased in recent years and what the impact can be on some college graduates.</p>

<p>Student</a> Debt Grows Dramatically - WSJ.com</p>

<p>In thinking about this article, I thought it might be useful to compare colleges based on how much debt their students graduate with. The data, taken from USNWR, is posted below. </p>

<p>Please keep in mind that the sort was done based on the average dollar value of indebtedness, but one should also consider the % of undergraduates who actually borrow. This number will vary significantly.</p>

<p>Avg Amount of Debt Incurred by those who borrow , % of students who borrow , National Private University</p>

<p>$5,859 , 19% , Princeton
$9,871 , 39% , Caltech
$10,813 , 39% , Harvard
$11,108 , 42% , Rice
$12,297 , 33% , Yale
$13,926 , 35% , BYU
$14,148 , 49% , MIT
$15,724 , 40% , Stanford
$19,085 , 41% , U Penn
$19,358 , 52% , Boston College
$19,390 , 44% , Brown
$19,625 , 48% , Yeshiva
$19,839 , 38% , Vanderbilt
$19,908 , 49% , Northwestern
$20,095 , 77% , Brandeis
$20,126 , 52% , Dartmouth
$20,883 , 38% , SMU
$21,984 , 50% , Johns Hopkins
$23,181 , 42% , Emory
$23,333 , 44% , Georgetown
$23,687 , 40% , Tufts
$23,961 , 47% , Tulane
$24,205 , 41% , Duke
$24,500 , 56% , U Miami
$24,750 , 46% , Cornell
$24,827 , 38% , Wake Forest
$25,586 , 59% , Boston University
$27,121 , 55% , U Rochester
$27,455 , 64% , Syracuse
$27,562 , 41% , U Chicago
$27,692 , 51% , USC
$29,756 , 58% , Lehigh
$29,835 , 57% , Notre Dame
$30,375 , 70% , Rensselaer
$30,533 , 50% , Carnegie Mellon
$31,299 , 47% , George Washington
$31,300 , 62% , Fordham
$31,546 , 61% , Pepperdine
$34,850 , 58% , NYU
$37,175 , 76% , Worcester
$37,892 , 65% , Case Western</p>

<p>na , na , Columbia
na , 40% , Wash U</p>

<p>Avg Amount of Debt Incurred by those who borrow , % of students who borrow , State University</p>

<p>$12,589 , 39% , WILLIAM & MARY
$14,291 , 39% , UC BERKELEY
$14,323 , 46% , UC IRVINE
$14,343 , 40% , U GEORGIA
$14,946 , 32% , U N CAROLINA
$15,155 , 47% , UC DAVIS
$15,318 , 41% , U FLORIDA
$15,918 , 53% , UC S CRUZ
$16,300 , 74% , RUTGERS
$16,317 , 50% , UC SAN DIEGO
$16,733 , 43% , UCLA
$16,800 , 50% , U WASHINGTON
$17,000 , 42% , U TEXAS
$17,107 , 47% , UC S BARBARA
$17,200 , 46% , U DELAWARE
$17,347 , 41% , MICHIGAN ST
$19,016 , 33% , U VIRGINIA
$19,891 , 54% , U ILLINOIS
$20,091 , 44% , U MARYLAND
$20,881 , 48% , GEORGIA TECH
$21,123 , 52% , U WISCONSIN
$21,413 , 56% , OHIO STATE
$21,521 , 61% , U CONNECTICUT
$22,013 , 56% , INDIANA U
$22,856 , 61% , U IOWA
$23,087 , 52% , PURDUE
$23,112 , 50% , TEXAS A&M
$23,811 , 64% , U MINNESOTA
$25,586 , 46% , U MICHIGAN
$26,800 , 69% , PENN STATE</p>

<p>na , na , U PITTSBURGH
na , na , CLEMSON
na , na , VIRGINIA TECH</p>

<p>Avg Amount of Debt Incurred by those who borrow , % of students who borrow , LAC</p>

<p>$9,214 , 46% , Williams
$10,518 , 51% , Claremont McK
$11,100 , 53% , Pomona
$12,603 , 46% , Amherst
$12,639 , 53% , Wellesley
$13,207 , 48% , Scripps
$15,280 , 41% , Swarthmore
$15,695 , 43% , Barnard
$15,885 , 45% , Sewanee
$16,041 , 39% , Colorado College
$16,684 , 49% , Whitman
$17,125 , 41% , Haverford
$17,218 , 45% , Trinity
$17,304 , 72% , Macalester
$17,560 , 51% , Bowdoin
$18,173 , 59% , Oberlin
$18,259 , 43% , Hamilton
$18,500 , 61% , Bucknell
$18,747 , 54% , Lafayette
$18,785 , 40% , Bates
$19,462 , 66% , Kenyon
$19,526 , 53% , Grinnell
$19,910 , 50% , Vassar
$19,981 , 36% , Middlebury
$20,019 , 54% , Bryn Mawr
$20,083 , 52% , Carleton
$20,164 , 34% , Colgate
$20,201 , 58% , Bard
$20,381 , 73% , Occidental
$20,915 , 43% , U Richmond
$20,960 , 71% , Smith
$21,018 , 53% , Harvey Mudd
$23,616 , 33% , W&L
$23,841 , 66% , Mt. Holyoke
$24,325 , 45% , Furman
$24,900 , 41% , Colby
$25,025 , 33% , Davidson
$27,402 , 43% , Wesleyan</p>

<p>na , na , US Military Acad
na , na , US Naval Acad
na , na , Holy Cross</p>

2

<p>While I like many of your lists, I would argue that this one is largely useless, particularly without a distinction between</p>

<ul>
<li>loans included in financial aid packages </li>
<li>private loans taken out by students to cover costs</li>
</ul>

<p>It would also be worth noting which colleges reduce loans for students with outside scholarships and which do not. </p>

<p>

In the meantime, however, the number of colleges going partially or fully loan-free has jumped significantly. In the last 5 years, the number of loan-free colleges has jumped from 1 (Princeton) to over a dozen.</p>

3

<p>IB,
I’m not sure why you need to distinguish between FA borrowings and private borrowings. Debt is debt and has to be repaid. Why is it important to the student to make this distinction?</p>

<p>Also, if you have the list, would you please post which colleges have gone to “loan-free?” Thanks.</p>

4

<p>Interesting statistics</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>An unfortunate recent example for how much debt some people are willing (unwilling) to take on for an education:
[Please</a> help! I’ve hit a serious wall with private student loan! - CreditBoards](<a href=“http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=407406]Please”>http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=407406)

Avoid private SL if you can.</p>

6

<p>

On the contrary – there is a HUGE difference. Most importantly, federal loan programs are subsidized and have lower interest rates. </p>

<p>

Loan-free for all students
Amherst
Bowdoin
Claremont McKenna
Colby
Columbia
Dartmouth
Davidson
Harvard
Haverford
Penn
Pomona
Princeton
Stanford
Swarthmore
Vanderbilt
Williams
Yale</p>

<p>Partially loan-free
Brown- under $100K
Caltech- under $60K
Chicago- under $60K
Cornell- under $60K
Duke- under $40K
Lafayette- under $50K
MIT- under $75K
Rice- under $80K
Tufts- under $40K (not need-blind)
Vassar- under $60K
Wellesley- under $60K</p>

<p>These lists may be incomplete, but those are the schools I know of.</p>

7

<p>I know about the differences in spread cost, but I’m not sure I’d characterize them as HUGE, particularly in today’s low-rate environment.</p>

<p>Thanks for the list of “loan-free” and partially “loan-free.” I think that this can be critical information for many students and families.</p>

8

<p>Very interesting.</p>

<p>Average debt: $18,481 for the LACs (50% of students on average), $23,084 for the Universities (49% of students on average). If you remove the bottom 3 schools from the Unis, to make the size of the two lists equivalent, you get an average of $22,014 for the Unis (48% of students). Although, maybe the 2 lists do not reflect the most representative samples. </p>

<p>In interpreting the numbers, you’d probably want to take into account the varying demographics of these schools. For example, Colorado College has a relatively low debt load (5th lowest percent of students, 10th lowest average amount among 38 LACs). But is this because the FA is so great (including merit aid) or because their student body is more affluent and less economically diverse than Wesleyan’s (which has the highest average debt amount among LACs)?</p>

<p>When schools go “loan free”, I wonder if the amount of grant aid truly rises to meet the need? Or do the need formulas and admissions policies change accordingly to maintain the bottom line?</p>

9

<p>

Wow, looks like Princeton is in a league of its own on this metric.</p>