by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Albion 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 Albion, 62% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $6,231 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $5,164, equal to roughly 93.9% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at Albion, 64% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $6,745 annually. This works out to 30.6% above the $5,164 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,490 across two years and $26,980 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 | 64% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,745 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 862 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,814,394 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Albion carry a median federal debt of $19,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,500 |
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 Albion.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $8,078 |
| 75th percentile | $31,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $36,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Albion.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Albion.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 183 | $23,675 |
| Completed (graduates) | 117 | $32,317 |
| Did not complete | 66 | $14,559 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $384.28/mo.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Albion.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Albion follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 354 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $18,250 |
| Middle income | $21,345 |
| High income | $19,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,750 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $25,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Albion.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
Worth Knowing
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.