Investopedia
Elizabeth Guevara
July 8, 2026
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Almost half of undergraduate students take out loans, and the median amount of student debt for those students is about $25,084.
- Majors in curriculum and instruction often graduate with the most student debt, typically over $20,000 more than the average.
- Other majors that typically incur high debt include behavioral sciences, engineering-related technologies, and complementary and alternative medicine.
Hoping to take on the least amount of debt while in college? You might want to avoid these 10 majors.
Almost half of undergraduate students take out loans for their education, according to the most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics.1 Among these students, the median amount borrowed by the time they attained their bachelor’s degree was about $25,084, according to a recent report from the Education Data Initiative.2