by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Alverno College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Among first-year students at Alverno, 53% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $6,244 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,060, representing 92.0% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at Alverno, 56% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $6,808 annually. It comes to 34.5% more than the first-year federal average of $5,060.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,616 across two years and $27,232 across a four-year program. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 56% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,808 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 406 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,764,069 |
The median student at Alverno borrows $22,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $22,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
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 Alverno.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $10,500 |
| 75th percentile | $36,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $47,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Alverno.
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 Alverno.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 334 | $16,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 219 | $18,500 |
| Did not complete | 115 | $14,595 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $219.98/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at Alverno.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 293 | $16,551 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 41 | $11,800 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Alverno.
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 Alverno is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 942 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $24,500 |
| Middle income | $21,496 |
| High income | $18,625 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $22,313 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,649 |
| Independent students | $24,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Alverno.
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
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.