by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Ferrum College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Ferrum College, 97% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $5,169 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,285, which is 77.9% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Ferrum College, 87% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $5,526 per year. This works out to 29.0% above the $4,285 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $11,052 in two years and roughly $22,104 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 87% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,526 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 650 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,591,755 |
The median student at Ferrum College borrows $14,250 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,067 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Ferrum College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,250 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $41,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Ferrum College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Ferrum College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 461 | $20,605 |
| Completed (graduates) | 207 | $35,650 |
| Did not complete | 254 | $12,412 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $423.92/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Ferrum College.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 450 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 11 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 449 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 12 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Ferrum College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Ferrum College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 484 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,250 |
| Middle income | $12,697 |
| High income | $15,125 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,342 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,795 |
| Independent students | $21,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Ferrum College.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
Important to Remember
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.