Northeastern Illinois University students graduate with the lowest student loan debt among all four-year public and private institutions of higher learning in Illinois, according to a new report. Northeastern ranked 27th among all four-year colleges and universities in the country, and 13th among all four-year public institutions.
The report was released by LendEDU, an online student loan and student loan refinance company. LendEDU’s fourth annual Student Loan Debt By School By State Report was created using licensed Peterson’s financial aid data that is provided by the institutions. Northeastern also was highly ranked in the first three reports, issued in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Based on the Class of 2018, 53 percent of Northeastern graduates incurred student debt, according to the LendEDU report, and the average debt per borrower was $16,220. Those numbers are significantly less than the state averages: 65 percent of students graduate with debt at an average of $29,692 per borrower.
In 2018, Northeastern earned the No. 1 spot for the fifth consecutive year in U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Colleges” publication for students who graduate with the least amount of debt among Midwest regional universities. U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 rankings will be released later this year.
