13 Colleges That Leave Students In Massive Debt

According to a recent report from the Project on Student Debt, the average 2009 college graduate with $24,000 in debt -- an increase of six percent from the prior year.

Using Peterson's data, the report also researched which colleges leave the students in most debt. Some schools, like the Cleveland Institute of Art, average more than $60,000 worth of debt per student. See the 13 schools that leave students in the most debt below.

See which states have the highest student debt averages here.

Are you in debt? Share your story in the comments section.

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Cleveland Institute of Art

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Average debt: $61,270

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Average debt: $61,270

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Not worth it I'd pay

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Comments

[axt113]

10:28 AM on 12/29/2010

Walked by the Cleveland institute of art nearly every day when I was at Case

[tenochrome T]

07:16 PM on 12/23/2010

Berkeley should definably be there.

[BOin08]

05:58 PM on 12/21/2010

My fav masseuse has a bachelors in modern art from Villanova...$80+K in debt and trying to pay it back one $10 tip at time. Wise up kids- go to college to learn an in-demand profession or on daddy's money...don't borrow for soft degrees.

[Handenry]

10:18 AM on 12/21/2010

A large proportion of ONU's graduates are pharmacy majors, which may help to explain why the debt load is so great. I'd be more than willing to incur 50K in debt if it meant I could guarantee 6 figures my first year out!

[Betsy ErnstMullin]

06:09 PM on 12/11/2010

WPI may cost a fortune, but you make it up really quickly and you start off life with solid skills for the 21st century!

[Alphaxi3]

12:28 AM on 12/06/2010

It amazes me that people pay so much money for a worthless art degree. I would not pay more than $20K for one of those worthless degrees. Never go more into debt than your degree will pay you per year.

[kris84]

04:23 AM on 12/19/2010

Congrats, you just demonstrated how little you understand about what all an art degree can be used for outside of gallery fine art. Just for illustration and graphic design you can work for publishers, magazines, TV channels, production studios, greeting card companies, gov't agencies, any company that needs technical or medical illustration or any kind of product packaging or advertising whatsoever. Depending on what area of art you specialize in, it's one of those most flexible and useful degrees out there. Take a look around you. 99% of everything you see has been touched by an artist/designer in some way, including the text books used to get those other "useful" degrees. Your view of the value of professional graphic artists is very narrow and very miss-informed.

[myprozacdream]

03:17 PM on 12/05/2010

Not surprised that most of these schools are Art/Design schools. As a fine art student, I can tell you that I'm one of the few at my school that is not from a decently well off family. It's frustrating to explain to people that mommy and daddy don't pay for anything and I get mega scholarships to go here AND I have a full time job.

[BOin08]

10:02 AM on 12/05/2010

basic supply and demand--do not borrow big money for soft degrees that earn nothing in the real world- you will never recover the "investment" in salaried earnings.

[Salvador Jaimes]

11:53 AM on 12/04/2010

They forgot to post two more. Westwood College and Everest College. Those two colleges should be shut down!

[LAA007]

04:09 AM on 12/04/2010

how about more mainstream schools like NYU.?

[moma 202]

11:37 PM on 12/03/2010

I cannot help to be concerned that higher education as in colleges and universities are missing the boat. The amount of debt that graduates have out weighs the education and preparation to get a job that anyone can get without a degree. Starting salaries for anyone other than Doctors, Lawyers,Engineers is just deplorable even making it impossible for graduates to pay loans and live in a moderate life style. Then there are the positions that require a degree that will pass over a more self educated person with common sense and definitely knows the business or financial needs of a business. So all of you students take up a trade, I do not know any Doctor, Lawyer or Engineer that will not need the services of a plumber, electrician, brick layer, carpenter Lawn service. You would be ahead of the game to start your own business.

[Russell Rankin]

10:20 PM on 12/03/2010

I realize that the more you pay the better your education. That's why I am not concerned about how much my parents have to go into debt to pay for my education. The regents and the professors have every right to get rich because the more money they are paid, the better they educate. With my MFA I am qualified to design the logos on paper bags and such. Even the computer I am working on was designed by a highly paid commerican artist; wasn't it? Wasn't it?
Anyway, these fine colleges used to be know just regionally. Now they are internationally renound; aren't they? Education should be superexpensive to keep out the riff raff.
Update: I now have a job as a tattoo artist. How great is that?

[Marianne Grisdale]

08:00 PM on 12/03/2010

I graduated with debt from one of these schools more than 15 years ago. I have always maintained that the best money my parents and I ever invested was in my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design from the College for Creative Studies. I paid off my debt and owe my career to my fine choice of schools. They taught me the skills I needed and the CCS name opened doors for me. I've had a great career so far without EVER regretting the money spent. Thankfully, my parents were "in their right minds" and understood that a BFA can launch a fruitful career that supports their child in a fulfilling way.

[moma 202]

11:45 PM on 12/03/2010

Marianne, I have a son with a BFA from a highly ranked university. He was an high honor student with a double Major. He is out of school now and he works very hard as a waiter in a high end Restaurant while he waits for someone to realize his talents.

[Marianne Grisdale]

08:16 AM on 12/07/2010

Dear Moma 202, Unfortunately if he picked a major that is not marketable, this makes it hard. A marketable major, good portfolio, and an internship or two really helps. I've got a daughter who will graduate in a year with a degree that is useless without a PhD. We've tried to tell her that she needs the PhD and internships but she stubbornly has clung to the illusion that she'll find something. I expect in a year or two she'll be back applying for PhD programs.

[kris84]

04:28 AM on 12/19/2010

What did your son major in? That makes a very, very big difference when it comes to how employable he is in the design field. For some fields like illustration there are agents which have the contacts needed to get you jobs, handle all the contracts/legal/invoicing/etc. for you so all you have to do is produce the artwork in exchange for the agent taking about 30%. I also echo what Marianne said. The level of skill your son has combined with a good portfolio being sent to places that suit it can make or break you.

[Raskallo]

11:32 PM on 12/04/2010

Dear Marianne,

I am glad your mommy and daddy paid for you to go to CCS 15 years ago. I am surprised you don't know that things do change in real life and educational businesses. Yes I call it a business, because that's all CCS is today. Education and opportunity that you have been given are far from what students are getting now. Not to mention the economical crisis, that you might not be aware of. What you had 15 years ago, isn't what we have now. You got a job because you were a woman! 15 years ago, it was a trend and thats what the industry wanted. Whoo Hooo. You are right the "name" mattered too. You paid for it........or your parents.

After being at CCS and graduating, most people are still looking for jobs no matter how talented they are. So, maybe you can leave your successful, busy career for a day and give a speech as an alumni at CCS and tell us all how we can live happily ever after school and earn top buck for our fine chose of school. Welcome to the future and back to planet Earth.

[Marianne Grisdale]

08:47 AM on 12/07/2010

Wow! What do you know about me? Yes we did pay for the name - 60% loans, 20% working income, 10% parents, 10% grants & scholarships. That's the point. My debt and hard work got me my dream.

Yes, I am a woman. However, I survived many layoffs - that says I'm competent. Believe me it works both ways - to my advantage and disadvantage. You are clearly male.

The top portfolios and most proactive students, are getting jobs. There are ID firms hiring and I get calls from headhunters regularly now. We are no longer inundated with applications so things are better than last year. I graduated in 1990 and it took a lot of us awhile to find jobs because of the economy. Granted, it was not as bad as the last year but now things are about the way they were in 1990.

I have a daughter in college now. She's in a poor college for her field and has no internships. I expect that she will bounce around at lousy jobs until she finally hears what we've been trying to tell her, as her loans come due, that she needs an advanced degree from a good school and internships.

Craft your resume, cover letters, and portfolio. Tell the story of your thought process. Please take a look at the Coroflot blogs. The professionals have some good advice. Many times if you request feedback or mentorship, there are locals that will help. Start with judging yourself.

[boldstrokes]

10:29 PM on 12/02/2010

ARMANDO DE LA ROSA is right too,... the majority of students are middle class to upper middle class families. meaning the parents make too Much to get Financial aid/scholarships and income based help, BUT they dont make enough to pay for the school...
Decent living, middle class families that do alright for themselves get practically no help...
they are shafted most of all..

[Social Shrink]

11:02 PM on 11/29/2010

The fact is, some professions will never make enough to pay off the debt of one's college undergrad education in a short amount of time. Colleges should take this into account rather than limiting the financial accessibility of going to college or preventing one from studying a topic they are interesting in, albeit less lucrative.

Check out our other thoughts here: www.thesocialshrink.blogspot.com