by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Bowling Green State University-Firelands, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At BGSU-Firelands, 61% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $6,688 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,691. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. 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 BGSU-Firelands, 51% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $6,129 each per year. It comes to 7.7% greater than the first-year federal average of $5,691.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,258 over two years and about $24,516 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 51% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,129 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 578 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,542,616 |
The median student at BGSU-Firelands borrows $17,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for BGSU-Firelands.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $6,159 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at BGSU-Firelands.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for BGSU-Firelands.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 3389 | $20,952 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2033 | $25,947 |
| Did not complete | 1356 | $16,351 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $308.54/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at BGSU-Firelands.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 3320 | $21,018 |
| No Stafford loan | 69 | $14,807 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 3080 | $21,252 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 309 | $16,633 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for BGSU-Firelands.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for BGSU-Firelands is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5032 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
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 | $15,625 |
| Middle income | $17,500 |
| High income | $18,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,465 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,142 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,500 |
| Independent students | $14,750 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for BGSU-Firelands.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
Did You Know?
Declaring bankruptcy does not erase federal student loan debt. If you stop paying, the federal government can garnish a portion of your wages until the loans are repaid.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.