10 Best Public Colleges With Lowest Debt at Graduation, 2014

As the cost of a college education continues to rise, the amount students borrow to cover those costs has crept up as well.

Education costs
(Image credit: Thinkstock)

As the cost of a college education continues to rise, the amount students borrow to cover those costs has crept up as well. From 2008 to 2012, debt at graduation (including both federal and private loans) increased an average of 6% a year, according to the Project on Student Debt. More than 70% of the class of 2012 borrowed to help pay for their education, at an average of $29,400 per borrower.

The good news? These ten schools from our 2014 list of best values in public colleges offer academic quality as well as enough financial support to get students to graduation day with a manageable amount of student debt. At five of the schools on our list, students earn their diploma with an average debt of $17,000 or less. Take a look.

Kaitlin Pitsker
Associate Editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Pitsker joined Kiplinger in the summer of 2012. Previously, she interned at the Post-Standard newspaper in Syracuse, N.Y., and with Chronogram magazine in Kingston, N.Y. She holds a BS in magazine journalism from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.