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 1745 institutions with reported data in the most recent U.S. Department of Education release (2024-25). Berea College (Berea, KY) leads at 0.08×.

#	Institution	Debt-to-earnings ratio
1	Berea CollegeKY · Private	0.08×
2	Princeton UniversityNJ · Private	0.09×
3	Stanford UniversityCA · Private	0.10×
4	United States Merchant Marine AcademyNY · Public	0.10×
5	Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMA · Private	0.10×
6	SUNY Downstate Health Sciences UniversityNY · Public	0.11×
7	Johns Hopkins UniversityMD · Private	0.12×
8	Wellesley CollegeMA · Private	0.12×
9	Touro University CaliforniaCA · Private	0.12×
10	Touro University NevadaNV · Private	0.12×
11	Brown UniversityRI · Private	0.12×
12	Rice UniversityTX · Private	0.12×
13	Claremont McKenna CollegeCA · Private	0.13×
14	Yale UniversityCT · Private	0.13×
15	University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. LouisMO · Private	0.13×
16	Albizu University-MiamiFL · Private	0.13×
17	Albizu University-San JuanPR · Private	0.13×
18	Duke UniversityNC · Private	0.13×
19	Texas Tech University Health Sciences CenterTX · Public	0.13×
20	Cornell UniversityNY · Private	0.14×
21	Weill Medical College of Cornell UniversityNY · Private	0.14×
22	Harvard UniversityMA · Private	0.14×
23	The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer CenterTX · Public	0.14×
24	University of California-BerkeleyCA · Public	0.14×
25	University of PennsylvaniaPA · Private	0.14×
26	The University of Texas Medical Branch at GalvestonTX · Public	0.14×
27	Williams CollegeMA · Private	0.14×
28	Samuel Merritt UniversityCA · Private	0.14×
29	Brigham Young UniversityUT · Private	0.15×
30	The University of Texas Health Science Center at HoustonTX · Public	0.15×
31	University of Puerto Rico-AreciboPR · Public	0.15×
32	Georgetown UniversityDC · Private	0.15×
33	Franklin W Olin College of EngineeringMA · Private	0.15×
34	Pomona CollegeCA · Private	0.15×
35	CUNY Bernard M Baruch CollegeNY · Public	0.15×
36	Vanderbilt UniversityTN · Private	0.15×
37	University of Puerto Rico-Rio PiedrasPR · Public	0.15×
38	University of Puerto Rico-BayamonPR · Public	0.16×
39	Babson CollegeMA · Private	0.16×
40	University of California-DavisCA · Public	0.16×
41	Research College of NursingMO · Private for-profit	0.16×
42	University of Puerto Rico at CayeyPR · Public	0.16×
43	University of ChicagoIL · Private	0.16×
44	Upstate Medical UniversityNY · Public	0.16×
45	CUNY Queens CollegeNY · Public	0.16×
46	Oregon Health & Science UniversityOR · Public	0.17×
47	Northwestern UniversityIL · Private	0.17×
48	University of Puerto Rico-MayaguezPR · Public	0.17×
49	Haverford CollegePA · Private	0.17×
50	Medical University of South CarolinaSC · Public	0.17×

A data ranking — not an Ibex endorsement or quality rating. Ranked solely on the metric named above using the most recent College Scorecard & IPEDS release, which lags the current academic year by 2–3 years. Institutions that do not report this metric are excluded. Figures and peer context appear on each institution’s profile.

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Source: U.S. Department of Education — College Scorecard & IPEDS (most recent release, 2024-25), with 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.