UPDATE 9/13/12: La Sierra University issues statement regarding US News report. According to a US News article, La Sierra University's 2011 graduating class had the highest average debt of any school in the country. Graduates left with an average debt of $54,885. La Sierra also had the highest percentage of students borrowing--68 percent.

Most students do not take on six-figure debt to go to college, a new study by financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz has found. But, according to school-reported data, some students are still leaving college with much higher levels of debt than the national average.

Students who borrowed for college and graduated in 2011 left owing $26,224 on average, based on statistics reported by 1,035 schools in an annual survey to U.S. News. For graduating classes with the highest average debt, student balances were roughly $18,000 to $28,000 more.

In 2011, La Sierra University's graduating class had the highest average debt of any school in the country. That year, students with loans left the Riverside, Calif., institution owing an average of $54,885. (Read more)