by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Barton College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Barton College, 77% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, at roughly $11,144 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $8,633. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a 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 Barton College, 69% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $6,551 each per year. That amounts to 24.1% less than the $8,633 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,102 by year two and around $26,204 over a four-year span. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 69% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,551 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 702 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,598,835 |
The median student at Barton College borrows $15,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,877 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,500 |
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 Barton College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,250 |
| 25th percentile | $6,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,250 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Barton College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Barton College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 249 | $20,560 |
| Completed (graduates) | 125 | $26,818 |
| Did not complete | 124 | $16,125 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $318.89/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Barton College.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 238 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 11 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Barton College.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Barton College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 400 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $20,250 |
| Middle income | $12,500 |
| High income | $14,976 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,805 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,985 |
| Independent students | $21,949 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Barton College.
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?
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.