The Best Colleges for Securing Your Loan’s Safety

The Best Colleges for Securing Your Financial Future in 2026

According to recent studies, a significant 82% of incoming college students prioritize being “very well off financially” as a key factor in their college selection process. With the national student loan default rate now hovering around 10.5%, it’s crucial to choose your educational institution wisely.

In the evolving job market of 2026, a college degree remains a vital investment. While it generally yields a positive return, not all institutions provide equal value, and some can be more financially burdensome than others.

While analyzing median salaries and employment statistics is essential for evaluating a school’s success, understanding the risk of accumulating unmanageable debt is equally important. On average, students can graduate with debt levels around four years and $160,000.

To assist prospective students in identifying solid educational investments, we’ve compiled a list of the most financially secure colleges in each state, along with an interactive map available at the top of this article.

If you’re curious about the least secure investments, we have insights on that as well. Below are the ten Most Financially Secure Colleges, with a comprehensive list at the end of this page:

Bellin College — Wisconsin
University of Baltimore — Maryland
Rice University — Texas
Kettering University — Michigan
Allen College — Iowa
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology — Indiana
Harvard University — Massachusetts
College of William and Mary — Virginia
Yale University — Connecticut
Bob Jones University — South Carolina

How We Determined the Most Secure College Investments

Viewing a college education through the lens of investment, we utilized various factors to create our ranking index: tuition costs, default rates, and post-graduation salary data.

We sourced tuition information from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), while loan default rates were obtained from the Department of Education. We analyzed salary data from CollegeScoreCard to assess median earnings six years post-graduation, a critical time frame for evaluating financial success.

1. Wisconsin

College: Bellin College
City: Bellevue, WI
Default Rate: 0%
Programs: Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Science in Radiologic Sciences, Bachelor of Science in Diagnostic Medical Sonography

2. Maryland

College: University of Baltimore
City: Baltimore, MD
Default Rate: 0.8%
Programs: Focused on business and law

3. Texas

College: Rice University
City: Houston, TX
Default Rate: 0.3%
Programs: Diverse offerings in engineering, humanities, and business

4. Michigan

College: Kettering University
City: Flint, MI
Default Rate: 1.9%
Programs: Engineering-focused degrees

5. Iowa

College: Allen College
City: Waterloo, IA
Default Rate: 1%
Programs: Primarily health care-focused

6. Indiana

College: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
City: Terre Haute, IN
Default Rate: 0.4%
Programs: Engineering and technology

7. Massachusetts

College: Harvard University
City: Boston, MA
Default Rate: 0.8%
Programs: Wide range, from liberal arts to law

8. Virginia

College: The College of William and Mary
City: Williamsburg, VA
Default Rate: 0.8%
Programs: Strong emphasis on liberal arts and sciences

9. Connecticut

College: Yale University
City: New Haven, CT
Default Rate: 0.6%
Programs: Diverse offerings in arts and sciences

10. South Carolina

College: Bob Jones University
City: Greenville, SC
Default Rate: 1.3%
Programs: Focus on liberal arts and religious studies

Key Takeaways

The Department of Education continues to track loan default rates to evaluate the effectiveness of federal loan programs. Schools with cohort default rates exceeding 30% for three consecutive years or 40% for a single year risk losing eligibility for federal funding.

For today’s college freshmen, selecting a college that enhances job prospects is critical. However, equally essential is ensuring that their college experience does not result in overwhelming debt. Prospective students should closely examine graduation rates and institutional accreditation.

Most Financially Secure Colleges

It’s worth noting that the University of Wyoming is included on this list due to the limited number of colleges in Wyoming, making it the most financially insecure bachelor’s-granting college as well.

Rank	State	College	Loan Default Rate	Salary At 6 Years	Tuition
1	WI	Bellin College	0.00%	53,100	20,500
2	MD	University of Baltimore	0.80%	52,100	14,035
3	TX	Rice	0.30%	60,100	42,253
4	MI	Kettering University	1.90%	62,600	10,944
5	IA	Allen College	1.00%	47,600	17,373
6	IN	Rose-Hulman	0.40%	64,800	45,141
7	MA	Harvard University	0.80%	106,300	45,278
8	VA	William and Mary	0.80%	48,300	33,946
9	CT	Yale	0.60%	76,400	47,600
10	SC	Bob Jones	1.30%	48,500	14,900
11	CA	Stanford University	0.70%	102,300	46,320
12	NC	Duke	0.40%	87,600	49,241
13	NJ	Princeton	0.90%	71,600	43,450
14	NY	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	0.09%	62,900	49,341
15	NE	Clarkson College	1.70%	46,200	13,904
16	PA	Carnegie Mellon University	0.60%	70,900	50,665
17	OH	Case Western Reserve University	1.10%	65,800	44,560
18	MO	Washington University	0.80%	59,700	48,093
19	CO	Colorado School of Mines	2.10%	66,200	26,090
20	NH	Dartmouth College	0.90%	70,500	49,506
21	DE	University of Delaware	1.90%	44,100	21,970
22	OR	University of Portland	1.10%	48,500	42,288
23	IL	University of Chicago	0.90%	69,800	51,351
24	WA	Gonzaga	1.10%	43,100	37,990
25	TN	Vanderbilt	1.20%	58,600	44,712
26	MN	College of Saint Benedict	0.90%	40,000	40,846
27	RI	Bryant University	1.60%	51,000	39,808
28	ND	North Dakota State at Fargo	3.20%	41,100	13,745
29	GA	Emory	1.50%	62,600	46,314
30	WY	University of Wyoming	4.20%	40,200	10,262
31	VT	Middlebury	1.50%	50,600	47,828
32	AL	Samford	2.00%	41,000	28,370
33	FL	University of Miami	1.90%	50,500	45,724
34	NM	New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology	5.30%	42,200	12,875
35	HI	Hawaii Pacific University	4.40%	43,900	22,440
36	AR	John Brown University	3.90%	42,500	24,468
37	ME	Bowdoin College	1.30%	44,800	48,212
38	LA	LSU	4.90%	42,300	18,295
39	KY	University of Kentucky	4.40%	39,000	17,602
40	UT	Westminster	2.70%	42,600	31,528
41	OK	University of Tulsa	2.90%	46,400	39,521
42	KS	Baker University	4.80%	45,200	27,160
43	NV	University of Nevada at Reno	5.20%	39,800	13,857
44	MT	Carroll College	2.10%	36,700	30,754
45	SD	Augustana	2.20%	35,400	30,090
46	AK	Alaska Pacific University	5.00%	39,900	19,610
47	MS	Millsaps	2.50%	35,700	35,510
48	ID	Northwest Nazarene University	3.60%	34,300	28,150
49	AZ	University of Arizona	5.60%	38,300	22,016
50	WV	Wheeling Jesuit	5.00%	37,800	28,030

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

David Luther

David Luther was the Content Marketing Editor for the Zippia Advice blog. He developed partnerships with external reporting agencies in addition to generating original research and reporting for the Zippia Career Advice blog. David obtained his BA from UNC Chapel Hill.

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