by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Bentley University: 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.
At Bentley specifically, 47% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $13,215 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,290, which is 96.2% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year 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 Bentley, 44% take out federal student loans, borrowing on average $6,694 a year. That is 26.5% higher than the freshman federal average of $5,290.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,388 across two years and $26,776 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 | 44% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,694 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,878 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $12,571,823 |
The middle borrower at Bentley owes $24,007 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $24,007 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,023 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,250 |
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 Bentley.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $14,548 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,500 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Bentley.
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 Bentley.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 281 | $40,572 |
| Completed (graduates) | 222 | $43,757 |
| Did not complete | 59 | $30,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $520.32/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Bentley.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 238 | $46,636 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 43 | $16,000 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Bentley.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Bentley appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 920 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $24,250 |
| Middle income | $24,250 |
| High income | $23,680 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $23,946 |
| Continuing-generation students | $24,101 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $23,666 |
| Independent students | $28,250 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Bentley.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Did You Know?
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.