Rutgers University, New Jersey’s premier public university, continues to dominate top spots in several national college rankings — it ranks 26th among the nation’s top public schools and 30th in campus ethnic diversity, among other accolades. 
 
 But the university’s most recent ranking is one that university administration and prospective students may find less favorable. Of all the public institutions in the country, Rutgers has the most graduate student debt. 
 
 According to the Washington Post, the Center for American Progress, a non-partisan public policy think tank, released a report earlier this month, which found that just 20 U.S. universities accounted for $6.5 billion — or one-fifth — of all federal student loan debt for the 2013-2014 academic year. 
 
 Ranked 19th on the list was Rutgers University, the only public college to appear in the top 20 alongside pricy private universities like New York University and for-profit colleges like the University of Phoenix. 
 
 Ava Lorenzo, an out-of-state graduate student at Rutgers’ campus in New Brunswick, N.J., was not surprised to learn the university was the top public college in the nation in terms of graduate student debt. 
 
 She says she has met many in-state students who do not qualify for sufficient federal aid but whose parents’ income are not high enough to finance their full tuition and fees. 
 
 “A lot of my friends’ parents who live in New Jersey make a decent salary,” Lorenzo says. “[But] this salary is not enough to fund college completely and also not enough for these students to receive wage-based grants from the federal government. Therefore, most of these kids had to take out a significant amount in loans.” 
 
 While Lorenzo funded most of her undergraduate expenses with income-based grants and scholarships, she says she is paying for her doctorate degree with loans. 
 
 She adds, “I know [the debt] is adding up, but getting a doctoral degree should mean that I will make enough to live comfortably despite having a loan bill to pay each month.” 
 
 In addition, Rutgers has one of the highest tuition rates in the nation among state colleges. And while graduate students enrolled at the university received more than $192 million in federal loans in 2013-2014 academic year, undergraduate students at Rutgers received more than $230,962,547 in federal loans that same year, according to the university’s official 2013-2014 financial aid report. 
 
 Candice Yeung, an undergraduate student at the Rutgers campus in Newark, N.J. who is considering enrolling in a graduate program in the next few years, says undergraduate debt alone can be so crippling that it becomes a major factor in the decision to pursue an advanced degree. 
 
 “Students spend four years paying or taking out loans for education and in addition to that, there are meal plans and dorm payments for those who choose to dorm at school,” she says. “Then, there are the textbooks, the supplies and the extra accessories that professors demand for a class. Even with jobs, it is hard to maintain a stable financial status in college. To be honest, I try to not think about my student loans. It makes me wonder if I’m going to graduate school or if law school is even worth it.” 
 
 While the university offers graduate students scholarships and other financial aid resources — including the Eagleton and Ralph Bunche fellowships — federal student loans remain the primary source of aid, according to NJ.com. 
 
 Historically, Americans journeyed to the nation’s top public schools to pursue either an undergraduate or graduate education with an expectation of affordability due to government investment. 
 
 Elizabeth Baylor, the director of postsecondary education at Center for American Progress and author the new report, argued in a 2014 analysis that cuts in-state funding of public colleges have made a bachelor’s degree or advanced degree very unaffordable for students across the country. 
 
 “In response to the fiscal crisis, the majority of state governments charted a budgetary course that reduced direct support to public colleges and universities, which, not surprisingly, coincided with the increasing unaffordability of these institutions,” Baylor said. “To make up for the funding cuts, public colleges increased their reliance on tuition revenue, which unduly burdened low- and moderate-income families.” 
 
 Rutgers University – much like other public colleges — has had to increase tuition in response to state disinvestment in recent years, thus forcing more students to rely more heavily on loans to finance their education. 
 
 The university’s board just approved a 2.3% tuition hike in undergraduate tuition and fees and approved similar increases of approximately 2.3% for most graduate students for the 2015-2016 academic year on Thursday. ||||| In this Oct. 6, 2011 photo, Gan Golan of Los Angeles, dressed as the “Master of Degrees,” holds a ball and chain representing his college loan debt during Occupy DC activities in (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) 
 
 Getting an advanced degree doesn’t come cheap, which is why graduate students carry nearly half of all student debt. But it turns out that a handful of schools are responsible for a large share of that money. 
 
 A new study from the Center for American Progress (CAP) found that 20 universities received one-fifth, or $6.5 billion, of the total amount of loans the government gave graduate students in the 2013-2014 academic year. Those schools, however, only educate 12 percent of all graduate students. 
 
 What’s striking about the Center’s findings is that a majority of the debt taken to attend the 20 schools on its list is not for law or medical degrees that promise hefty paydays. Most graduate students at those schools are seeking master’s degrees in journalism, fine arts or government, according to CAP. 
 
 [It’s about to get cheaper to borrow for college] 
 
 Still, at two foreign medical schools, St. George’s University in Grenada and Ross University in Dominica, students borrowed more than $200 million in a single school year. Medical schools in the Caribbean are often a refuge for students rejected from top American schools, but their tuition easily rival schools in the United States. Tuition for one semester at Ross, for instance, costs up to $21,710. 
 
 It’s not exactly shocking that pricey private schools like New York University, Georgetown University and George Washington University made the list–tuition alone at all three schools is well over $40,000 a year. But the eight for-profit colleges, including University of Phoenix and Capella University, may raise some eyebrows. 
 
 Indeed, students borrowed the most amount of money, $756 million, to attend Walden University, a for-profit school that specializes in offering graduate degrees in education, healthcare and business. The second highest loan balance on the list is attributed to Nova Southeastern University, a private college in Florida where 59 percent of students are working toward graduate degrees online. 
 
 Although online programs are billed as time and cost effective, schools like Nova and Liberty University prove otherwise. About 98 percent of graduate students at Liberty, founded by evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, are enrolled in online programs that led them to borrow $351 million in a single year. 
 
 The government lets graduate students borrow far more than undergrads. Students pursuing a bachelor’s degree can take out no more than about $27,000 from the government, unless they’re married, over age 24 or otherwise independent from their parents. On the other hand, graduate students can borrow the full cost of attendance and wind up with six-figure debt by the time they earn a degree. 
 
 “Policymakers should consider how much graduate lending is sustainable, and examine the value of graduate credentials,” said Elizabeth Baylor, director of postsecondary education at the Center for American Progress. “Degrees in medicine at traditional medical schools offer a clear path to a career with very positive economic outcomes. It’s an expensive education to deliver and the cost students bear makes some sense. However, an online master’s degree, which is cheap to deliver—from an institution with uncertain career outcomes—may not merit unlimited graduate loans.” 
 
 Americans owe more than a trillion dollars in student loan debt. Here's how to pay yours back faster — explained with dominoes. (Gillian Brockell and Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post) 
 
 Want to read more about the student loans? Check out these stories: 
 
 Is graduate school worth the cost? Here’s how to know. 
 
 A guide to paying off your student loans 
 
 Sidelined by disability and saddled with student loans 
 
 There’s a way to dramatically lower student debt payments, but hardly anyone use it ||||| In this Oct. 6, 2011 photo, Gan Golan of Los Angeles, dressed as the “Master of Degrees,” holds a ball and chain representing his college loan debt during Occupy DC activities in (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) 
 
 Getting an advanced degree doesn’t come cheap, which is why graduate students carry nearly half of all student debt. But it turns out that a handful of schools are responsible for a large share of that money. 
 
 A new study from the Center for American Progress (CAP) found that 20 universities received one-fifth, or $6.5 billion, of the total amount of loans the government gave graduate students in the 2013-2014 academic year. Those schools, however, only educate 12 percent of all graduate students. 
 
 What’s striking about the Center’s findings is that a majority of the debt taken to attend the 20 schools on its list is not for law or medical degrees that promise hefty paydays. Most graduate students at those schools are seeking master’s degrees in journalism, fine arts or government, according to CAP. 
 
 [It’s about to get cheaper to borrow for college] 
 
 Still, at two foreign medical schools, St. George’s University in Grenada and Ross University in Dominica, students borrowed more than $200 million in a single school year. Medical schools in the Caribbean are often a refuge for students rejected from top American schools, but their tuition easily rival schools in the United States. Tuition for one semester at Ross, for instance, costs up to $21,710. 
 
 It’s not exactly shocking that pricey private schools like New York University, Georgetown University and George Washington University made the list–tuition alone at all three schools is well over $40,000 a year. But the eight for-profit colleges, including University of Phoenix and Capella University, may raise some eyebrows. 
 
 Indeed, students borrowed the most amount of money, $756 million, to attend Walden University, a for-profit school that specializes in offering graduate degrees in education, healthcare and business. The second highest loan balance on the list is attributed to Nova Southeastern University, a private college in Florida where 59 percent of students are working toward graduate degrees online. 
 
 Although online programs are billed as time and cost effective, schools like Nova and Liberty University prove otherwise. About 98 percent of graduate students at Liberty, founded by evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, are enrolled in online programs that led them to borrow $351 million in a single year. 
 
 The government lets graduate students borrow far more than undergrads. Students pursuing a bachelor’s degree can take out no more than about $27,000 from the government, unless they’re married, over age 24 or otherwise independent from their parents. On the other hand, graduate students can borrow the full cost of attendance and wind up with six-figure debt by the time they earn a degree. 
 
 “Policymakers should consider how much graduate lending is sustainable, and examine the value of graduate credentials,” said Elizabeth Baylor, director of postsecondary education at the Center for American Progress. “Degrees in medicine at traditional medical schools offer a clear path to a career with very positive economic outcomes. It’s an expensive education to deliver and the cost students bear makes some sense. However, an online master’s degree, which is cheap to deliver—from an institution with uncertain career outcomes—may not merit unlimited graduate loans.” 
 
 Americans owe more than a trillion dollars in student loan debt. Here's how to pay yours back faster — explained with dominoes. (Gillian Brockell,Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post) 
 
 Want to read more about the student loans? Check out these stories: 
 
 Is graduate school worth the cost? Here’s how to know. 
 
 A guide to paying off your student loans 
 
 Sidelined by disability and saddled with student loans 
 
 There’s a way to dramatically lower student debt payments, but hardly anyone use it ||||| The best years of life are also among the most expensive. Choose with care. 
 
 Our annual ranking of the 650 best undergraduate institutions focuses on the things that matter the most to students: quality of teaching, great career prospects, graduation rates and low levels of debt. Unlike other lists, we pointedly ignore ephemeral measures such as school “reputation” and ill-conceived metrics that reward wasteful spending. We try and evaluate the college purchase as a consumer would: Is it worth spending as much as a quarter of a million dollars for this degree? The rankings are prepared exclusively for Forbes by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, a Washington, D.C. think tank founded by Ohio University economist Richard Vedder. 
 
 For the second year in a row, Williams College, a small, western-Massachusetts liberal arts school, has been named as the best undergraduate institution in America. With total annual costs adding up to nearly $55,000, a Williams education is certainly not cheap, but the 2,000 undergraduates here have among the highest four-year graduation rates in the country, win loads of prestigious national awards like Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships, and are often rewarded with high-paying careers. 
 
 Return to America’s Top Colleges 
 
 In second place? Princeton University, which boasts nearly nonexistent student debt rates due to one of the most generous financial aid programs in the nation. Outside of Princeton and Harvard (#6), Ivy League schools fare relatively poorly, suggesting that their reputations might be a bit overblown. Yale (#14), Brown (#21) and Dartmouth (#30) crack the top 5%, but the other Ivies – Columbia (#42), Cornell (#51) University of Pennsylvania (#52) — do not. 
 
 Which College Gives You the Biggest Bang For Your Educational Buck? Click here for a Free Download “Forbes Top 100 Best Buy Colleges” 
 
 Because of our emphasis on financial prudence, the zero-cost military service academies rank highly. West Point, which topped the list two years ago, ranks third this time, thanks to outstanding teaching (#3) and high alumni salaries (#8), while the Air Force Academy (#10) and the Naval Academy (#17) glide easily into the top 20. Even the less prestigious academies – the Coast Guard (#97) and the Merchant Marine (#158) — score well. 
 
 Outside of the academies, the highest ranked public school is the University of Virginia (#46) followed closely by the College of William and Mary (#49) and UCLA (#55). 
 
 The rankings are based on five general categories: Post Graduate success (30%), which evaluates alumni pay and prominence, Student Satisfaction (27.5%), which includes professor evaluations and freshman to sophomore year retention rates, Debt (17.5%), which penalizes schools for high student debt loads and default rates, Four Year Graduation Rate (17.5%) and Competitive Awards (7.5%), which rewards schools whose students win prestigious scholarships and fellowships like the Rhodes, the Marshall and the Fulbright. The complete methodology is available below and in .pdf format here. 
 
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 In addition to the overall rankings, the Center for College Affordability and Productivity also prepares a “value” ranking which takes into account the overall cost of each school as relative to the quality of the education provided. Predictably, the service academies also dominate this “best-buy” list, nabbing the top three spots: West Point #1, Air Force Academy #2, and the Naval Academy #3. New York City’s Cooper Union, which grants full scholarships to every student, snags the #4 value slot (#154 overall), with the College of the Ozarks (#6, #191 overall) and the University of Wyoming (#10, #361 overall) also giving students amazing value for their educational buck. 
 
 Which College Gives You the Biggest Bang For Your Educational Buck? Click here for a Free Download “Forbes Top 100 Best Buy Colleges” 
 
 Return to America’s Top Colleges 
 
 See Also: 
 
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 Michael Dell’s Dorm Room Startup Summit 
 
 By The Numbers: 
 
 The Top 200 Colleges 
 
 Best Buy Colleges 
 
 Best Midwestern Colleges 
 
 Best Northeastern Colleges 
 
 Best Southern Colleges 
 
 Best Western Colleges 
 
 Best Public Colleges 
 
 Best Private Colleges 
 
 Best Baccalaureate Colleges 
 
 Best Master’s Colleges 
 
 Best Research Universities 
 
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– Just one public university made it on the list of the top 20 US colleges receiving the most graduate-student loan money—an elite group that received 20%, or $6.5 billion, of the total amount of funds loaned to graduate students in the 2013-2014 academic year, the Washington Post reports. According to a study from the Center for American Progress, New Jersey's Rutgers University—No. 26 on this year's US News & World Report list of top public colleges in the nation—squeaked in at No. 19, holding its own with NYU, Columbia, and 17 other private schools. USA Today notes that Rutgers is among the pricier public schools in the nation, and NJ.com notes that it just hiked tuition about 2.3% for both undergrad and grads for the upcoming academic year. Students aren't surprised: "A lot of my friends' parents who live in New Jersey make a decent salary," an out-of-state grad student at Rutgers tells USA Today. "[But it's] not enough to fund college completely and also not enough for these students to receive wage-based grants from the federal government." (Check out the 19 private schools that make the loan-heavy list at the Washington Post.)