by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Boise State University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Boise State, 36% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, for an average of $8,082 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,134, representing 93.3% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Counting every undergraduate at Boise State, 33% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $6,658 in federal loans per year. This is 29.7% larger than the $5,134 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,316 by year two and around $26,632 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 | 33% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,658 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 5,604 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $37,310,907 |
The median student at Boise State borrows $14,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
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 Boise State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,129 |
| 25th percentile | $5,670 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $40,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Boise State.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Boise State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1556 | $17,959 |
| Completed (graduates) | 855 | $18,968 |
| Did not complete | 701 | $16,447 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $225.55/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Boise State.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1510 | $17,905 |
| No Stafford loan | 46 | $20,226 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1199 | $18,474 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 357 | $15,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Boise State.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Boise State is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4259 |
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 | $15,489 |
| Middle income | $14,000 |
| High income | $12,909 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,718 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,000 |
| Independent students | $15,863 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Boise State.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.