by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Bowling Green State University-Main Campus: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At BGSU, 61% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, borrowing on average $8,287 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $5,390, representing 98.0% 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.
Looking at all undergraduates at BGSU, freshmen included, 55% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $6,355 per year. That is 17.9% higher than the $5,390 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,710 by year two and around $25,420 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 55% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,355 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 6,707 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $42,620,673 |
The middle borrower at BGSU owes $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Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at BGSU.
| 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 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at BGSU.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at BGSU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 3389 | $20,952 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2033 | $25,947 |
| Did not complete | 1356 | $16,351 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $308.54/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at BGSU.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| 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 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. BGSU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for BGSU follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5032 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $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.
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
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.