by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Oregon State University-Cascades Campus— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Oregon State University - Cascades Campus, 40% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $6,270 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $4,875, which is 88.6% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
For undergraduates overall at Oregon State University - Cascades Campus, 32% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $6,509 each per year. That amounts to 33.5% larger than the $4,875 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,018 by year two and around $26,036 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 32% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,509 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 334 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,174,118 |
The middle borrower at Oregon State University - Cascades Campus owes $15,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,221 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Oregon State University - Cascades Campus.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,668 |
| 25th percentile | $7,334 |
| 75th percentile | $26,873 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,661 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Oregon State University - Cascades Campus.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at Oregon State University - Cascades Campus.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 3487 | $23,003 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1598 | $28,923 |
| Did not complete | 1889 | $20,027 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $343.93/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Oregon State University - Cascades Campus.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 3384 | $23,062 |
| No Stafford loan | 103 | $21,527 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2536 | $24,804 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 951 | $19,390 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Oregon State University - Cascades Campus.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Oregon State University - Cascades Campus appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3975 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,000 |
| Middle income | $15,125 |
| High income | $14,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,250 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $15,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Oregon State University - Cascades Campus.
The Difference Between 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.
Worth Knowing
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.