Is Nelnet financially healthy?
Not really
Nelnet carries heavy debt: it would take 9.6 years of earnings to pay it off.
The numbers behind it
Net debt / EBITDA9.6 years
Cash vs. debt$296M vs. $7.8B
Interest coverage1.6×How many times operating profit covers the interest bill
How we decide
We measure debt in years of earnings (net debt / EBITDA): under 1 is very comfortable, 1 to 3 is manageable, above 3 is heavy. A company that earns less than 3 times its interest bill also counts as weak.
More questions about Nelnet
Data as of Nov 13, 2026.