by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Ball State University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Ball State, 54% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $7,474 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $5,065, equal to roughly 92.1% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Looking at all undergraduates at Ball State, freshmen included, 46% take out federal student loans, for a typical $6,260 annually. That is 23.6% more than the $5,065 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,520 after two years and $25,040 by the fourth year. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 46% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,260 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 6,339 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $39,680,437 |
The middle borrower at Ball State owes $16,904 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,904 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Ball State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,000 |
| 25th percentile | $7,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Ball 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 Ball State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2999 | $18,290 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1932 | $20,800 |
| Did not complete | 1067 | $15,000 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $247.33/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Ball State.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2948 | $18,358 |
| No Stafford loan | 51 | $15,656 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2645 | $18,545 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 354 | $15,828 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Ball State.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Ball State appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4189 |
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 | $14,487 |
| Middle income | $16,500 |
| High income | $18,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,705 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $16,790 |
| Independent students | $17,264 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Ball State.
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.