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 CollegeCottleville, MO · Public two-year | $6,187 | 6.6% | $70/mo | $42,422 |
| Saint Louis Community CollegeBridgeton, MO · Public two-year | $6,725 | 5.6% | $76/mo | $35,325 |
| WellSpring School of Allied Health-Kansas CityKansas City, MO · Private two-year | $7,917 | 78.8% | $90/mo | $29,839 |
| WellSpring School of Allied Health-SpringfieldSpringfield, MO · Private two-year | $7,917 | 81.7% | $90/mo | $29,839 |
| Crowder CollegeNeosho, MO · Public two-year | $9,000 | 9.8% | $102/mo | $35,987 |
| Jefferson CollegeHillsboro, MO · Public two-year | $9,285 | 8.9% | $106/mo | $40,782 |
| Concorde Career College-Kansas CityKansas City, MO · Private four-year | $9,500 | 66.1% | $108/mo | $35,242 |
| East Central CollegeUnion, MO · Public two-year | $9,500 | 8.1% | $108/mo | $36,916 |
| Midwest InstituteEarth City, MO · Private two-year | $9,500 | 54.9% | $108/mo | $30,414 |
| Missouri State University-West PlainsWest Plains, MO · Public two-year | $10,000 | 8.8% | $114/mo | $36,922 |
| Three Rivers CollegePoplar Bluff, MO · Public two-year | $10,000 | 12.9% | $114/mo | $32,442 |
| Metropolitan Community College-Kansas CityKansas City, MO · Public two-year | $10,073 | 4.4% | $114/mo | $40,796 |
| Logan UniversityChesterfield, MO · Private four-year | $10,250 | 64.5% | $116/mo | $55,838 |
| Ozarks Technical Community CollegeSpringfield, MO · Public two-year | $10,453 | 21% | $119/mo | $36,455 |
| Mineral Area CollegePark Hills, MO · Public two-year | $10,500 | 9.3% | $119/mo | $35,352 |
| North Central Missouri CollegeTrenton, MO · Public two-year | $10,500 | 18.9% | $119/mo | $40,837 |
| State Fair Community CollegeSedalia, MO · Public two-year | $10,500 | 11.5% | $119/mo | $35,562 |
| Moberly Area Community CollegeMoberly, MO · Public two-year | $10,658 | 6.9% | $121/mo | $37,537 |
| State Technical College of MissouriLinn, MO · Public two-year | $10,986 | 38.6% | $125/mo | $55,901 |
| Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing and Health SciencesCape Girardeau, MO · Private four-year | $11,500 | 73.9% | $131/mo | $60,918 |
| Pinnacle Career InstituteKansas City, MO · Private two-year | $11,605 | 64.8% | $132/mo | $34,213 |
| St Louis College of Health Careers-FentonFenton, MO · Private four-year | $11,750 | 68.4% | $134/mo | $32,217 |
| Ranken Technical CollegeSaint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $12,000 | 61.3% | $136/mo | $55,955 |
| Texas County Technical CollegeHouston, MO · Private two-year | $13,195 | 85.1% | $150/mo | $40,843 |
| Research College of NursingKansas City, MO · Private four-year | $13,930 | 48.5% | $158/mo | $85,910 |
| Bolivar Technical CollegeBolivar, MO · Private four-year | $15,000 | 86.2% | $170/mo | Not reported |
| Midwestern Baptist Theological SeminaryKansas City, MO · Private four-year | $15,675 | 26.3% | $178/mo | $50,535 |
| Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of NursingSaint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $16,750 | 66.5% | $190/mo | $84,393 |
| Ozark Christian CollegeJoplin, MO · Private four-year | $16,772 | 55.8% | $191/mo | $41,297 |
| Central Christian College of the BibleMoberly, MO · Private four-year | $17,500 | 46.2% | $199/mo | $34,675 |
| Washington University in St LouisSaint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $17,500 | 14.3% | $199/mo | $86,182 |
| Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended StudiesFayette, MO · Private four-year | $17,619 | 24.6% | $200/mo | $48,991 |
| Central Methodist University-College of Liberal Arts and SciencesFayette, MO · Private four-year | $17,619 | 63.9% | $200/mo | $48,991 |
| University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. LouisSaint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $17,755 | 68.2% | $202/mo | $137,047 |
| Rockhurst UniversityKansas City, MO · Private four-year | $18,250 | 33.5% | $207/mo | $67,102 |
| Hannibal-LaGrange UniversityHannibal, MO · Private four-year | $18,599 | 43.9% | $211/mo | $42,643 |
| University of Missouri-Kansas CityKansas City, MO · Public four-year | $18,750 | 24.4% | $213/mo | $59,637 |
| Cottey CollegeNevada, MO · Private four-year | $19,043 | 56.3% | $216/mo | $35,422 |
| Missouri Southern State UniversityJoplin, MO · Public four-year | $19,174 | 34.5% | $218/mo | $42,620 |
| Missouri Western State UniversitySaint Joseph, MO · Public four-year | $19,968 | 30.3% | $227/mo | $42,647 |
| Cox CollegeSpringfield, MO · Private four-year | $20,000 | 74.1% | $227/mo | $56,867 |
| University of Missouri-St LouisSaint Louis, MO · Public four-year | $20,000 | 19.9% | $227/mo | $53,037 |
| University of Missouri-ColumbiaColumbia, MO · Public four-year | $20,500 | 34.9% | $233/mo | $63,403 |
| Calvary UniversityKansas City, MO · Private four-year | $20,839 | 27% | $237/mo | $45,421 |
| Chamberlain University-MissouriSt. Louis, MO · Private four-year | $20,919 | 80.3% | $238/mo | $92,405 |
| Southwest Baptist UniversityBolivar, MO · Private four-year | $20,957 | 47.1% | $238/mo | $43,112 |
| Drury UniversitySpringfield, MO · Private four-year | $20,979 | 52.8% | $238/mo | $40,694 |
| Drury University-College of Continuing Professional StudiesSpringfield, MO · Private four-year | $20,979 | 44.9% | $238/mo | $40,694 |
| Truman State UniversityKirksville, MO · Public four-year | $21,000 | 27.5% | $239/mo | $56,280 |
| University of Central MissouriWarrensburg, MO · Public four-year | $21,000 | 36.2% | $239/mo | $49,560 |
| Northwest Missouri State UniversityMaryville, MO · Public four-year | $21,500 | 46.8% | $244/mo | $47,885 |
| Southeast Missouri State UniversityCape Girardeau, MO · Public four-year | $21,500 | 34.5% | $244/mo | $44,030 |
| Park UniversityParkville, MO · Private four-year | $21,685 | 31.3% | $246/mo | $56,309 |
| William Woods UniversityFulton, MO · Private four-year | $21,983 | 50.2% | $250/mo | $42,401 |
| Missouri State University-SpringfieldSpringfield, MO · Public four-year | $21,992 | 31.1% | $250/mo | $49,827 |
| Maryville University of Saint LouisSaint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $22,000 | 54.3% | $250/mo | $62,105 |
| Missouri Baptist UniversitySaint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $22,500 | 22.9% | $256/mo | $46,660 |
| Webster UniversitySaint Louis, MO · Private four-year | $23,000 | 43.9% | $261/mo | $50,876 |
| Missouri University of Science and TechnologyRolla, MO · Public four-year | $23,250 | 40.4% | $264/mo | $82,957 |
| William Jewell CollegeLiberty, 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.
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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