10 Colleges Where Graduates Have the Least Student Loan Debt

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Graduating from college debt-free is tough these days.

On average, 68 percent of 2013 graduates borrowed to attend school, according to the 1,041 ranked schools reporting that figure to U.S. News. The average student loan debt was $27,670 among the 1,027 schools sharing that data point.

[Find out which 10 colleges leave students with the most debt.]

At the 10 lowest-debt schools, the class of 2013 got off a little easier.

The average debt load for borrowers at these 10 universities was $9,166, with 51.7 percent of students taking on student loan debt.

At Princeton University, ranked No. 1 among National Universities, 24 percent of the class of 2013 borrowed, taking on $5,558 on average. Students can give some credit to Princeton's no loan policy, launched in 2001, which replaces loans with grants in students' financial aid packages.

Some of the colleges on this list, including Alice Lloyd College, Berea College and College of the Ozarks, award full-tuition scholarships to all admitted students. Students may borrow to cover other costs, however, such as fees, room and board, books or other personal expenses.

[Discover 11 tuition-free colleges.]

Students at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Coast Guard Academy and Military Academy, also known as West Point, are not charged for tuition or room and board, and graduate debt-free, according to data submitted to U.S. News by those schools. They were not included in the list of schools where students graduate owing the least in student loans. The Merchant Marine Academy, which charges no tuition or room and board, was left off as well.

Below is a list of the 10 universities where graduates who borrowed took on the least student loan debt. Only schools reporting both average debt load and percentage of students who borrowed were included on this list. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.

Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find data on student debt, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.

U.S. News surveyed nearly 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2014 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The tuition and fees data above are correct as of Feb. 24, 2015.