by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Albany State University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Albany State, 75% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $5,843 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,434, representing 98.8% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. 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 Albany State, 65% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $6,279 a year. That amounts to 15.6% above the first-year federal average of $5,434.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,558 across two years and $25,116 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 | 65% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,279 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 3,846 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $24,149,638 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Albany State carry a median federal debt of $12,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,024 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,000 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Albany State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $10,500 |
| 75th percentile | $39,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $49,682 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Albany State.
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 Albany State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1015 | $8,879 |
| Completed (graduates) | 403 | $10,892 |
| Did not complete | 612 | $7,600 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $129.52/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Albany State.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1001 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 938 | $8,778 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 77 | $9,911 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Albany State.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Albany State appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 16.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1262 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,000 |
| Middle income | $12,500 |
| High income | $13,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,288 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,000 |
| Independent students | $16,579 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Albany State.
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.
Important to Remember
Declaring bankruptcy does not erase federal student loan debt. If you stop paying, the federal government can garnish a portion of your wages until the loans are repaid.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.