by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Boston 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 Boston U, 21% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $10,796 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $4,011, amounting to 72.9% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
For undergraduates overall at Boston U, 24% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $5,429 per year. That is 35.4% greater than the $4,011 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $10,858 by year two and around $21,716 over four years. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 24% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,429 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,275 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $23,207,868 |
The median student at Boston U borrows $21,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $21,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $12,000 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Boston U.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,250 |
| 75th percentile | $30,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,500 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Boston U.
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 Boston U.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2285 | $34,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1693 | $39,000 |
| Did not complete | 592 | $24,005 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $463.75/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Boston U.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2248 | $33,885 |
| No Stafford loan | 37 | $44,756 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1736 | $39,858 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 549 | $22,000 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Boston U.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Boston U is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5353 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $20,821 |
| Middle income | $21,500 |
| High income | $21,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $21,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,445 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $21,500 |
| Independent students | $20,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Boston U.
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.
Important to Remember
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.