by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Ashland University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Ashland, 62% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $8,756 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,441, which is 98.9% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
For undergraduates overall at Ashland, 50% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $6,695 per year. This works out to 23.0% greater than the freshman federal average of $5,441.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,390 across two years and $26,780 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 50% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,695 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,161 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,773,332 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Ashland carry a median federal debt of $20,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $20,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,699 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Ashland.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,750 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Ashland.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Ashland.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 882 | $17,017 |
| Completed (graduates) | 513 | $21,110 |
| Did not complete | 369 | $13,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $251.02/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 Ashland.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 869 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 13 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 654 | $19,589 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 228 | $11,697 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Ashland.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Ashland follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1865 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,750 |
| Middle income | $21,494 |
| High income | $20,250 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $20,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $20,500 |
| Independent students | $19,032 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Ashland.
The Difference Between 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.
Important to Remember
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.