by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Asbury University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Asbury, 50% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $7,574 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,511. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Asbury, 49% finance part of their studies with federal loans, borrowing on average $6,428 a year. It comes to 16.6% above the $5,511 borrowed by freshmen.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,856 by year two and around $25,712 over four years. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 49% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,428 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 672 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,319,322 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Asbury carry a median federal debt of $17,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $24,028 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Asbury.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $8,749 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Asbury.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Asbury.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 178 | $17,018 |
| Completed (graduates) | 100 | $21,858 |
| Did not complete | 78 | $13,969 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $259.91/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Asbury.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 159 | $19,225 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 19 | $8,750 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Asbury.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Asbury is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 438 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,250 |
| Middle income | $19,500 |
| High income | $16,750 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,751 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,250 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,643 |
| Independent students | $16,900 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Asbury.
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.
Did You Know?
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.