Private Colleges With the Lowest Student Graduating Debt
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<strong>Location:</strong> Princeton, N.J.<br />
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<strong>Undergraduate Enrollment:</strong> 5,220<br />
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<strong>Total Annual Cost:</strong> $50,269<br />
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<strong>Average Debt at Graduation:</strong> $5,225<br />
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<strong>Students Who Borrow:</strong> 23%<br />
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Princeton’s no-loan financial aid policy, introduced a decade ago, means that less than one-fourth of students need to borrow, and the amount they do borrow is small. Princeton’s average debt at graduation, at a little over $5,000, is the lowest among our top 200 private colleges.</p>
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Location</b>: Berea, Ky. <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Undergraduate Enrollment</b>: 1,613 <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Total Annual Cost</b>: $32,894 <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Average Debt at Graduation</b>: $5,836 <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Students Who Borrow</b>: 73% <br />
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Plenty of colleges talk about keeping costs, and student debt, down, but Berea walks the walk: This Christian-focused institution covers the full $25,500 tuition for all students, out of a mix of grants and scholarships, leaving them to cover only $7,394 in remaining costs (including room and board). It’s no surprise that average debt here is second-lowest on our list.</p>
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Location</b>: Williamstown, Mass. <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Undergraduate Enrollment</b>: 2,029 <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Total Annual Cost</b>: $55,360 <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Average Debt at Graduation</b>: $8,369 <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Students Who Borrow</b>: 43% <br />
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With an average financial-aid package of about $40,000 a year, Williams brings the annual cost of its elite education to a relatively modest $15,360 for students who qualify. Williams admits students without considering their financial circumstances and meets the full demonstrated need of students who enroll.</p>
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Location</b>: New Haven, Conn. <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Undergraduate Enrollment</b>: 5,294 <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Total Annual Cost</b>: $53,700 <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Average Debt at Graduation</b>: $9,254 <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Students Who Borrow</b>: 28% <br />
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An Ivy League school with a walloping endowment and a financial-aid budget of $117 million, Yale offers no-loan financial aid to more than half its students, including families earning well over $100,000. Result: Students who borrow carry away one-third less debt than the national average for borrowers at private schools.</p>
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Location</b>: Claremont, Cal. <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Undergraduate Enrollment</b>: 956 <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Total Annual Cost</b>: $55,700 <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Average Debt at Graduation</b>: $9,435 <br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold; ">Students Who Borrow</b>: 36% <br />
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This tiny, all-women’s school awards generous need-based and merit-based grants as well as privately funded need-based loans, which do not accrue interest while the student is in school. (Students also have access to federally sponsored loans, such as Staffords.) Scripps is one of the three members of the Claremont Colleges (a consortium of five colleges and two graduate programs that share faculty and facilities) to make our top ten for low debt.</p>
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<a href="http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/lowest-debt-private-colleges/1.html">Click here</a> to see the full list from Kiplinger</p>
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<b>More from Kiplinger:</b></p>
<p>
<a href="http://portal.kiplinger.com/slideshow/best-values-private-universities-2012/1.html">10 Best Values in Private Universities</a></p>
<p>
<a href="http://portal.kiplinger.com/slideshow/best-values-liberal-arts-colleges-2012/1.html">10 Best Values in Liberal Arts Colleges</a></p>
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<a href="http://portal.kiplinger.com/tools/privatecolleges/">See the Complete Private Colleges Rankings</a></p>
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<br />
<strong>More from DailyFinance:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/11/16/3-ways-to-get-a-free-college-education-with-no-strings/">3 Ways to Get a Free College Education (With No Strings)</a></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/11/08/decades-later-student-loan-default-still-haunts-borrower/">Decades Later, Student Loan Default Still Haunts Borrower</a></p>
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<a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/11/03/how-to-go-to-college-without-going-broke-and-yes-you-still-sho/">How to Go to College Without Going Broke (and Yes, You Still Should)</a></p>
