by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Bethany Lutheran College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at BLC, 58% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $8,362 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $4,886, representing 88.8% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Looking at all undergraduates at BLC, freshmen included, 55% borrow through federal student loan programs, borrowing on average $5,925 in federal loans per year. This works out to 21.3% more than the $4,886 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,850 across two years and $23,700 by the fourth year. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 55% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,925 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 372 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,204,253 |
The middle borrower at BLC owes $15,935 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,935 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
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 BLC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $8,000 |
| 75th percentile | $25,812 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $28,812 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at BLC.
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 BLC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 36 | $13,078 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. BLC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for BLC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 209 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,000 |
| Middle income | $16,000 |
| High income | $18,082 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,560 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,438 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at BLC.
Subsidized vs. 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.
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.