The Colleges Where Students Borrow the Least
Student debt at graduation varies enormously by school. Using College Scorecard data, here are the colleges where the average federal loan is lowest — and what that number really tells you.
Two students, two very different debts
The same major, the same effort, the same starting salary — and yet two students can walk out of college owing wildly different amounts. The school they picked is a big part of why.
I pulled the average federal loan amount students take on, by school, from the College Scorecard. The spread is striking: at the low end, the typical student borrows under $3,500. At plenty of other schools, the average is several times that. Here are the places where students borrow the least — and an honest reading of what's driving it.
Where the loans are smallest
Two kinds of schools dominate the low-borrowing list, for two different reasons.
| School | Average federal loan |
|---|---|
| Laredo College (TX) | $2,334 |
| Motlow State Community College (TN) | $3,000 |
| Walters State Community College (TN) | $3,277 |
| Modesto Junior College (CA) | $3,375 |
| Del Mar College (TX) | $3,500 |
| Fresno City College (CA) | $3,500 |
| Macomb Community College (MI) | $3,500 |
| Berea College (KY) | $3,516 |
The first group is community colleges. Borrowing is low there largely because the cost is low to begin with — when tuition is a few thousand dollars a year, students don't need to borrow much. That's genuinely valuable, but it's a story about price, not about aid generosity.
The second group is the more interesting one, and Berea College is its flagship. Berea is a four-year residential liberal-arts college that charges no tuition at all — every admitted student receives a full-tuition scholarship, and students work on-campus jobs to cover much of the rest. Low borrowing there isn't about a cheap, no-frills experience; it's a deliberate model that lets low-income students graduate from a selective college with minimal debt.
The average federal loan tells you what a typical student borrowed — not what the school costs your family, and not whether you'll qualify for the same aid. A school can show a low average loan because its students are wealthy enough not to borrow. Always read this number alongside the net price for your income band.
How to use this number well
The average-loan figure is most useful as a flag, not a verdict:
- A low number at a community college mostly reflects low cost — pair it with whether the school has the program and transfer path you need.
- A low number at a four-year college that still meets full need (like Berea) is a strong signal of real generosity.
- A high average loan is worth a second look — it can mean the school leaves families with a gap that only debt can fill.
What this figure can't tell you is your own future balance. That depends on your aid package, how long you take to graduate, and whether you borrow for living costs.
Your next step
Debt is the downstream result of net price. Get the net price right first, and the borrowing tends to take care of itself.
→ Estimate your net price — and how much you'd need to borrow
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (latest release; data retrieved March 2026). "Average federal loan" is the average federal loan amount taken on by students at the institution. It reflects borrowing behavior across all income levels and is not a per-family prediction.