Borrowing and outcomes
Student debt at Missouri colleges
Across the 74 Missouri colleges that report both figures, median federal student debt at graduation is $18,897, and a median of 46.5% 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 Missouri institution. Most published “average student debt in Missouri” figures measure something else, the total balance carried by borrowers who live in Missouri, 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
$18,897
Middle half: $11,115 to $21,998
Median share who borrow
46.5%
Across 74 colleges
Illustrative monthly payment
$215/mo
10-year standard plan at 6.52%
Missouri colleges by median federal debt at graduation
Lowest median debt first, showing 60 of 74 colleges (26 public, 48 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.
| College | Median federal debt | Share who borrow | Illustrative payment | Earnings 10 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Charles Community College, Cottleville, MO · Public two-year | $6,187 | 6.6% | $70/mo | $42,422 |
| Saint Louis Community College, Bridgeton, MO · Public two-year | $6,725 | 5.6% | $76/mo | $35,325 |
| WellSpring School of Allied Health-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO · Private two-year | $7,917 | 78.8% | $90/mo | $29,839 |
| WellSpring School of Allied Health-Springfield, Springfield, MO · Private two-year | $7,917 | 81.7% | $90/mo | $29,839 |
| Crowder College, Neosho, MO · Public two-year | $9,000 | 9.8% | $102/mo | $35,987 |
| Jefferson College, Hillsboro, MO · Public two-year | $9,285 | 8.9% | $106/mo | $40,782 |
| Concorde Career College-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO · Private four-year | $9,500 | 66.1% | $108/mo | $35,242 |
| East Central College, Union, MO · Public two-year | $9,500 | 8.1% | $108/mo | $36,916 |
| Midwest Institute, Earth City, MO · Private two-year | $9,500 | 54.9% | $108/mo | $30,414 |
| Missouri State University-West Plains, West Plains, MO · Public two-year | $10,000 | 8.8% | $114/mo | $36,922 |
| Three Rivers College, Poplar Bluff, MO · Public two-year | $10,000 | 12.9% | $114/mo | $32,442 |
| Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO · Public two-year | $10,073 | 4.4% | $114/mo | $40,796 |
| Logan University, Chesterfield, MO · Private four-year | $10,250 | 64.5% | $116/mo | $55,838 |
| Ozarks Technical Community College, Springfield, MO · Public two-year | $10,453 | 21% | $119/mo | $36,455 |
| Mineral Area College, Park Hills, MO · Public two-year | $10,500 | 9.3% | $119/mo | $35,352 |
| North Central Missouri College, Trenton, MO · Public two-year | $10,500 | 18.9% | $119/mo | $40,837 |
| State Fair Community College, Sedalia, MO · Public two-year | $10,500 | 11.5% | $119/mo | $35,562 |
| Moberly Area Community College, Moberly, MO · Public two-year | $10,658 | 6.9% | $121/mo | $37,537 |
| State Technical College of Missouri, Linn, MO · Public two-year | $10,986 | 38.6% | $125/mo | $55,901 |
| Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Cape Girardeau, MO · Private four-year | $11,500 | 73.9% | $131/mo | $60,918 |
| Pinnacle Career Institute, Kansas City, MO · Private two-year | $11,605 | 64.8% | $132/mo | $34,213 |
| St Louis College of Health Careers-Fenton, Fenton, MO · Private four-year | $11,750 | 68.4% | $134/mo | $32,217 |
| Ranken Technical College, Saint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $12,000 | 61.3% | $136/mo | $55,955 |
| Texas County Technical College, Houston, MO · Private two-year | $13,195 | 85.1% | $150/mo | $40,843 |
| Research College of Nursing, Kansas City, MO · Private four-year | $13,930 | 48.5% | $158/mo | $85,910 |
| Bolivar Technical College, Bolivar, MO · Private four-year | $15,000 | 86.2% | $170/mo | Not reported |
| Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, MO · Private four-year | $15,675 | 26.3% | $178/mo | $50,535 |
| Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing, Saint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $16,750 | 66.5% | $190/mo | $84,393 |
| Ozark Christian College, Joplin, MO · Private four-year | $16,772 | 55.8% | $191/mo | $41,297 |
| Central Christian College of the Bible, Moberly, MO · Private four-year | $17,500 | 46.2% | $199/mo | $34,675 |
| Washington University in St Louis, Saint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $17,500 | 14.3% | $199/mo | $86,182 |
| Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended Studies, Fayette, MO · Private four-year | $17,619 | 24.6% | $200/mo | $48,991 |
| Central Methodist University-College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Fayette, MO · Private four-year | $17,619 | 63.9% | $200/mo | $48,991 |
| University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $17,755 | 68.2% | $202/mo | $137,047 |
| Rockhurst University, Kansas City, MO · Private four-year | $18,250 | 33.5% | $207/mo | $67,102 |
| Hannibal-LaGrange University, Hannibal, MO · Private four-year | $18,599 | 43.9% | $211/mo | $42,643 |
| University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO · Public four-year | $18,750 | 24.4% | $213/mo | $59,637 |
| Cottey College, Nevada, MO · Private four-year | $19,043 | 56.3% | $216/mo | $35,422 |
| Missouri Southern State University, Joplin, MO · Public four-year | $19,174 | 34.5% | $218/mo | $42,620 |
| Missouri Western State University, Saint Joseph, MO · Public four-year | $19,968 | 30.3% | $227/mo | $42,647 |
| Cox College, Springfield, MO · Private four-year | $20,000 | 74.1% | $227/mo | $56,867 |
| University of Missouri-St Louis, Saint Louis, MO · Public four-year | $20,000 | 19.9% | $227/mo | $53,037 |
| University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO · Public four-year | $20,500 | 34.9% | $233/mo | $63,403 |
| Calvary University, Kansas City, MO · Private four-year | $20,839 | 27% | $237/mo | $45,421 |
| Chamberlain University-Missouri, St. Louis, MO · Private four-year | $20,919 | 80.3% | $238/mo | $92,405 |
| Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, MO · Private four-year | $20,957 | 47.1% | $238/mo | $43,112 |
| Drury University, Springfield, MO · Private four-year | $20,979 | 52.8% | $238/mo | $40,694 |
| Drury University-College of Continuing Professional Studies, Springfield, MO · Private four-year | $20,979 | 44.9% | $238/mo | $40,694 |
| Truman State University, Kirksville, MO · Public four-year | $21,000 | 27.5% | $239/mo | $56,280 |
| University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO · Public four-year | $21,000 | 36.2% | $239/mo | $49,560 |
| Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO · Public four-year | $21,500 | 46.8% | $244/mo | $47,885 |
| Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO · Public four-year | $21,500 | 34.5% | $244/mo | $44,030 |
| Park University, Parkville, MO · Private four-year | $21,685 | 31.3% | $246/mo | $56,309 |
| William Woods University, Fulton, MO · Private four-year | $21,983 | 50.2% | $250/mo | $42,401 |
| Missouri State University-Springfield, Springfield, MO · Public four-year | $21,992 | 31.1% | $250/mo | $49,827 |
| Maryville University of Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $22,000 | 54.3% | $250/mo | $62,105 |
| Missouri Baptist University, Saint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $22,500 | 22.9% | $256/mo | $46,660 |
| Webster University, Saint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $23,000 | 43.9% | $261/mo | $50,876 |
| Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO · Public four-year | $23,250 | 40.4% | $264/mo | $82,957 |
| William Jewell College, Liberty, MO · Private four-year | $24,498 | 79.9% | $278/mo | $59,268 |
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 Missouri borrowing data shows
- Across the 74 Missouri colleges reporting both figures, median federal debt at graduation is $18,897 and the median borrower share is 46.5%. The middle half of these colleges falls between $11,115 and $21,998.
- On the standard 10-year federal repayment plan at 6.52%, $18,897 works out to about $215 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 Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City 4.4% of students take federal loans; at Evangel University-James River Assembly of God Church it is 94.9%. 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 73 Missouri colleges here that report it, is $44,030. 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 Missouri college graduates have?
- Across the 74 Missouri colleges that report both figures, the median federal loan debt at graduation is $18,897, and a median of 46.5% of students take federal loans. Individual colleges range from $6,187 to $27,000. 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 Missouri?
- No. This page covers the 74 Missouri 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 Missouri?
- Because they measure different things. This page reports median federal debt AT GRADUATION for students at Missouri 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 Midwest states
Cost and outcomes in Missouri
- Affordable colleges in Missouri
- All colleges in Missouri
- Compare debt across every state
- What college costs at your family income
- Research: college cost vs. outcomes
- Research: where college costs more than a family can borrow
- FAFSA lower earnings list: 17 Missouri schools flagged now (25 in December 2025)
Keep going on CampusPin
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Federal reporting is updated annually. Report a data issue.
Data sources & methodology
Debt, borrower-share, and earnings figures for Missouri 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.
Suggested citation
CampusPin. Student Debt at Missouri Colleges. Retrieved from https://campuspin.com/student-debt/missouri