How much student debt do Connecticut college graduates have?

Across the 27 Connecticut colleges that report both figures, the median federal loan debt at graduation is $23,500, and a median of 49.8% of students take federal loans. Individual colleges range from $9,200 to $33,500. These are federal loans only, so households that also used private or parent PLUS loans borrowed more than this.

Does a low average debt figure mean a college is affordable?

Not on its own. Median debt describes only the students who borrowed and completed. A college where 15% of students borrow can post a low median while most families pay a high price out of pocket, and a college where most students borrow can post a modest median because its price is genuinely low. Always read the dollar figure together with the share who borrow, which is why this page never shows one without the other.

Is this every college in Connecticut?

No. This page covers the 27 Connecticut institutions in CampusPin's dataset that report BOTH median debt at graduation and the borrower share. A college reporting only one of the two is excluded rather than shown with half the statistic. CampusPin's dataset is also not the complete federal Title IV universe.

Why is this lower than the average student debt figure I have seen for Connecticut?

Because they measure different things. This page reports median federal debt AT GRADUATION for students at Connecticut colleges. The widely published state figures report the total federal balance carried by borrowers who RESIDE in a state, which includes graduate-school borrowing and years of accrued interest on loans taken long ago, so it is substantially higher. Neither is wrong. Use debt at graduation to compare colleges against each other, and the residence figure to understand what people in a state currently owe.

What is not counted in these figures?

Private student loans, parent PLUS borrowing, and money families pay without borrowing are all outside this data, so real household cost is higher than the numbers here. The figures also reflect a prior graduating cohort and lag the current academic year by one to two federal reporting cycles.

Borrowing and outcomes

Student debt at Connecticut colleges

Across the 27 Connecticut colleges that report both figures, median federal student debt at graduation is $23,500, and a median of 49.8% of students take federal loans. Those two numbers belong together: the dollar figure describes only the students who borrowed, so it means something quite different at a college where most students borrow than at one where few do.

Which student-debt number this is

This page measures debt at graduation, by college: what students who borrowed had taken in federal loans by the time they finished at a particular Connecticut institution. Most published “average student debt in Connecticut” figures measure something else, the total balance carried by borrowers who live in Connecticut, which includes graduate-school borrowing and years of accrued interest and is therefore much larger. Both are real; they answer different questions. Use this one to compare colleges, not to estimate a lifetime balance.

Median debt at graduation

$23,500

Middle half: $21,500 to $26,000

Median share who borrow

49.8%

Across 27 colleges

Illustrative monthly payment

$267/mo

10-year standard plan at 6.52%

Connecticut colleges by median federal debt at graduation

Lowest median debt first, showing 27 of 27 colleges (11 public, 16 private). This is a sort of one reported figure, not a ranking and not a recommendation. Every row shows the borrower share beside the dollar amount because neither number means much alone.

Colleges in Connecticut ordered by median federal debt at graduation, with the share of students who borrow, an illustrative monthly payment, and median earnings ten years after entry.
College	Median federal debt	Share who borrow	Illustrative payment	Earnings 10 yrs
Connecticut State Community CollegeHartford, CT · Public two-year	$9,200	2.3%	$105/mo	$41,344
Holy Apostles College and SeminaryCromwell, CT · Private four-year	$12,541	18.1%	$143/mo	Not reported
Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT · Private four-year	$12,975	5.8%	$147/mo	$100,533
Wesleyan UniversityMiddletown, CT · Private four-year	$17,000	18.2%	$193/mo	$73,897
Charter Oak State CollegeNew Britain, CT · Public four-year	$18,683	40.1%	$212/mo	$64,209
University of ConnecticutStorrs, CT · Public four-year	$21,500	40.5%	$244/mo	$73,997
University of Connecticut-Avery PointGroton, CT · Public four-year	$21,500	35.5%	$244/mo	$73,997
University of Connecticut-Hartford CampusHartford, CT · Public four-year	$21,500	37.8%	$244/mo	$73,997
University of Connecticut-StamfordStamford, CT · Public four-year	$21,500	34.3%	$244/mo	$73,997
University of Connecticut-Waterbury CampusWaterbury, CT · Public four-year	$21,500	37.2%	$244/mo	$73,997
Southern Connecticut State UniversityNew Haven, CT · Public four-year	$22,250	54.4%	$253/mo	$55,043
Central Connecticut State UniversityNew Britain, CT · Public four-year	$22,300	50.2%	$253/mo	$58,562
Trinity CollegeHartford, CT · Private four-year	$23,000	39.8%	$261/mo	$90,779
Connecticut CollegeNew London, CT · Private four-year	$23,500	36%	$267/mo	$75,001
Western Connecticut State UniversityDanbury, CT · Public four-year	$24,147	49.8%	$274/mo	$59,115
Eastern Connecticut State UniversityWillimantic, CT · Public four-year	$24,250	50.5%	$276/mo	$56,469
Sacred Heart UniversityFairfield, CT · Private four-year	$25,000	56.8%	$284/mo	$75,059
Mitchell CollegeNew London, CT · Private four-year	$25,150	61%	$286/mo	$39,115
University of BridgeportBridgeport, CT · Private four-year	$25,750	72.5%	$293/mo	$50,323
Fairfield UniversityFairfield, CT · Private four-year	$26,000	47.6%	$295/mo	$88,794
Quinnipiac UniversityHamden, CT · Private four-year	$26,000	58.8%	$295/mo	$83,759
University of HartfordWest Hartford, CT · Private four-year	$27,000	64.4%	$307/mo	$60,823
University of New HavenWest Haven, CT · Private four-year	$27,000	80.9%	$307/mo	$60,126
University of Saint JosephWest Hartford, CT · Private four-year	$27,000	75.9%	$307/mo	$59,908
Post UniversityWaterbury, CT · Private four-year	$30,157	76.5%	$343/mo	$38,696
Albertus Magnus CollegeNew Haven, CT · Private four-year	$30,964	75.6%	$352/mo	$60,144
Goodwin UniversityEast Hartford, CT · Private four-year	$33,500	76.1%	$381/mo	$43,596

The illustrative payment assumes the standard 10-year federal repayment plan at 6.52%, the U.S. Department of Education, fixed rate for undergraduate Direct Loans first disbursed July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. It is an illustration, not a quote.

What the Connecticut borrowing data shows

Across the 27 Connecticut colleges reporting both figures, median federal debt at graduation is $23,500 and the median borrower share is 49.8%. The middle half of these colleges falls between $21,500 and $26,000.
On the standard 10-year federal repayment plan at 6.52%, $23,500 works out to about $267 a month for 10 years. That is an illustration of one repayment plan, not a quote: income-driven plans produce very different payments, and a real borrower's loans carry the rate in force in each year they borrowed.
The borrower share varies far more than the dollar figure. At Connecticut State Community College 2.3% of students take federal loans; at University of New Haven it is 80.9%. Read the two numbers together — a low median at a college where almost nobody borrows describes the few who did, not the typical student.
Median earnings ten years after entry, across the 26 Connecticut colleges here that report it, is $62,516. That figure covers students who received federal aid and reflects the mix of programs and students at each college, not the effect of attending it.

How these figures were built

Every number comes from the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard / IPEDS), as carried in CampusPin’s committed snapshot of 2026-08-13. Nothing is recomputed, modelled, or imputed.

An institution appears here only if it reports bothmedian federal debt at graduation and the share of students receiving federal loans. Median debt without the borrower share is the misleading half of the statistic, so a college reporting one and not the other is excluded rather than shown incomplete. Institutions sharing an identical debt, borrower-share and earnings tuple are also excluded, because that pattern means one record’s series was attached to several colleges upstream and the figure cannot be attributed to a single school.

Federal loans only. Private loans, parent PLUS borrowing, and money families pay without borrowing are not in this data, so real household borrowing is higher than these figures. Median debt describes students who borrowed and completed, not all students. Figures reflect a prior cohort and lag the current academic year by one to two federal reporting cycles.

Frequently asked questions

How much student debt do Connecticut college graduates have?: Across the 27 Connecticut colleges that report both figures, the median federal loan debt at graduation is $23,500, and a median of 49.8% of students take federal loans. Individual colleges range from $9,200 to $33,500. These are federal loans only, so households that also used private or parent PLUS loans borrowed more than this.
Does a low average debt figure mean a college is affordable?: Not on its own. Median debt describes only the students who borrowed and completed. A college where 15% of students borrow can post a low median while most families pay a high price out of pocket, and a college where most students borrow can post a modest median because its price is genuinely low. Always read the dollar figure together with the share who borrow, which is why this page never shows one without the other.
Is this every college in Connecticut?: No. This page covers the 27 Connecticut institutions in CampusPin's dataset that report BOTH median debt at graduation and the borrower share. A college reporting only one of the two is excluded rather than shown with half the statistic. CampusPin's dataset is also not the complete federal Title IV universe.
Why is this lower than the average student debt figure I have seen for Connecticut?: Because they measure different things. This page reports median federal debt AT GRADUATION for students at Connecticut colleges. The widely published state figures report the total federal balance carried by borrowers who RESIDE in a state, which includes graduate-school borrowing and years of accrued interest on loans taken long ago, so it is substantially higher. Neither is wrong. Use debt at graduation to compare colleges against each other, and the residence figure to understand what people in a state currently owe.
What is not counted in these figures?: Private student loans, parent PLUS borrowing, and money families pay without borrowing are all outside this data, so real household cost is higher than the numbers here. The figures also reflect a prior graduating cohort and lag the current academic year by one to two federal reporting cycles.

Limitations of this data

Median debt covers FEDERAL loans only. Private loans, parent PLUS borrowing, and money families pay without borrowing are not included, so real household cost is higher than this figure.
It describes students who BORROWED and completed, not all students. Read it together with the borrower share on the same row.
Figures reflect a prior cohort and lag the current academic year by one to two federal reporting cycles.
Median earnings ten years out covers students who received federal financial aid, and reflects the mix of programs and students at each institution, not the effect of attending it.
Reflects institutions in CampusPin's dataset, NOT the full federal Title IV universe.

More Northeast states

Cost and outcomes in Connecticut

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Federal reporting is updated annually. Report a data issue.

Data sources & methodology

Debt, borrower-share, and earnings figures for Connecticut colleges come from federal collections reported by each institution.

Sources used across this page

Not every source informs every figure. Each data point draws on the source appropriate to it see the relevant section and the data dictionary for field-level provenance.

IPEDS / NCES College Navigator
Federal enrollment, admissions, tuition, retention, and program data. Released annually with a 1–2 year lag.
U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard
Net price by income band, post-graduation earnings, and federal aid context.
Institutional websites
Each school's official admissions, registrar, and financial-aid pages are the authoritative source for current details.

Where a value is unavailable it is shown as unavailable, never as 0, free, or a negative judgment. Always confirm final details with the institution before applying.

Methodology Data dictionary Report a correction

Suggested citation

CampusPin. Student Debt at Connecticut Colleges. Retrieved from https://campuspin.com/student-debt/connecticut