Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at Indiana Institute of Technology

The small sample size here demands caution, but the debt picture is alarming enough to warrant serious concern. Indiana Tech charges nearly $40,000 in debt for an associate's degree that leads to $29,654 in first-year earnings—that's 3.5 times what Indiana students typically borrow for this same program statewide ($24,688 median). While earnings land at the 60th percentile among Indiana schools, graduates are taking on debt levels in the 5th percentile nationally, meaning 95% of similar programs nationwide saddle students with less debt.

The math is straightforward: you're borrowing $1.29 for every dollar earned in the first year, and Indiana offers multiple alternatives with comparable or better outcomes. Ivy Tech Community College, the state's community college system, produces graduates earning $26,524—only $3,000 less—while presumably charging community college prices rather than private institution debt loads. Even more troubling, this debt burden appears at the associate's level, where costs should theoretically be contained.

For an anxious parent, this program represents paying premium prices for middle-of-the-pack results in Indiana. Unless there are compelling personal circumstances tying your child to this specific institution, the debt-to-earnings mismatch makes this a difficult investment to justify when Indiana's public colleges offer similar liberal arts programs at a fraction of the cost.