by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Benedictine University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at Benedictine U, 57% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $6,311 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $5,323, amounting to 96.8% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. 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 Benedictine U, 47% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $6,664 per year. This works out to 25.2% higher than the $5,323 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,328 across two years and $26,656 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 47% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,664 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 848 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,651,036 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Benedictine U carry a median federal debt of $17,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Benedictine U.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $6,265 |
| 75th percentile | $26,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,141 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Benedictine U.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Benedictine U.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 826 | $20,100 |
| Completed (graduates) | 501 | $22,900 |
| Did not complete | 325 | $16,796 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $272.31/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Benedictine U.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 814 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 12 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 663 | $21,173 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 163 | $16,500 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Benedictine U.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Benedictine U appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1566 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,750 |
| Middle income | $18,000 |
| High income | $15,608 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,213 |
| Independent students | $18,750 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Benedictine U.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.