by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Belmont University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Belmont specifically, 35% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $11,851 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,131, which is 93.3% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Counting every undergraduate at Belmont, 34% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $6,416 in federal loans per year. It comes to 25.0% greater than the $5,131 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,832 by year two and around $25,664 by the fourth year. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 34% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,416 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,513 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $16,124,452 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Belmont 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) | $20,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $12,000 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Belmont.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $8,386 |
| 75th percentile | $26,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $29,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Belmont.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Belmont.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1340 | $55,968 |
| Completed (graduates) | 666 | $72,092 |
| Did not complete | 674 | $44,142 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $857.25/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 Belmont.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1264 | $58,000 |
| No Stafford loan | 76 | $38,406 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1227 | $59,650 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 113 | $34,923 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Belmont.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Belmont is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1105 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,749 |
| Middle income | $18,605 |
| High income | $16,750 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $18,875 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,250 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,129 |
| Independent students | $18,750 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Belmont.
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.