Best debt-to-earnings ratio – U.S. universities
These 50 U.S. universities rank best by graduate debt relative to earnings (lower is stronger), drawn from 2,006 institutions with reported data in the U.S. Department of Education data for 2020-21 (Scorecard). Reedley College (Reedley, CA) leads at 0.07×.
A data ranking, not an Ibex endorsement or quality rating. Ranked solely on the metric named above using U.S. Department of Education data for 2020-21 (Scorecard); federal collections lag the current academic year, and some measures are no longer published at all, so the most recent figure is not always a recent one. Institutions that do not report this metric are excluded. Figures and peer context appear on each institution’s profile.
Benchmark any school against its true peers
Open the dashboard to filter by sector, Carnegie class, size, and state, or compare schools head-to-head.
Frequently asked
Which of these U.S. universities ranks highest by graduate debt relative to earnings (lower is stronger)?
Reedley College (Reedley, CA), at 0.07×. It leads 50 institutions shown here, drawn from 2,006 with reported data.
How is this ranking calculated?
On one disclosed metric only: by graduate debt relative to earnings (lower is stronger), from College Scorecard & IPEDS, 2020-21 (Scorecard). Institutions that do not report the metric are excluded. It is a data ranking, not an Ibex endorsement, quality rating or reputation survey, and no part of it is estimated or AI-generated.
How current is the data?
This list is built from the College Scorecard release of June 10, 2026 and the newest IPEDS collection on disk, using the most recent figure each of them publishes for the metric it ranks: College Scorecard & IPEDS, 2020-21 (Scorecard). Federal collections lag the current academic year by two to three years, so the newest published figure is not always a recent one; the release the leaderboard is dated on is printed under it.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard & IPEDS (each measure carries its own collection year; see the methodology), with NSF NCSES (HERD), the Clery Act & EADA collections, Census ACS, BLS Employment Projections, WICHE & the FSA Direct Loan Dashboard. Compiled by Ibex Insights. For informational benchmarking only, not financial, investment, or accreditation advice. See the methodology.