by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Alabama State University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at Alabama State, 55% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $6,870 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $6,266. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Alabama State, 74% take out federal student loans, borrowing on average $8,212 in federal loans per year. This works out to 31.1% more than the $6,266 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $16,424 by year two and around $32,848 by the fourth year. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 74% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,212 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,465 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $20,243,168 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Alabama State carry a median federal debt of $17,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $31,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,000 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Alabama State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,784 |
| 75th percentile | $32,263 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $45,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Alabama State.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Alabama State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1114 | $18,827 |
| Completed (graduates) | 435 | $26,622 |
| Did not complete | 679 | $16,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $316.56/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Alabama State.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1093 | $19,000 |
| No Stafford loan | 21 | $15,769 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1073 | $19,075 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 41 | $12,288 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Alabama State.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Alabama State appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1961 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
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 | $17,750 |
| Middle income | $17,000 |
| High income | $18,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,299 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,303 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,000 |
| Independent students | $21,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Alabama State.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Did You Know?
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.