by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Bradley 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 Bradley, 67% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $7,475 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,421, equal to roughly 98.6% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Across the full undergraduate body at Bradley (freshmen included), 64% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $6,528 a year. That is 20.4% greater than the first-year federal average of $5,421.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,056 across two years and $26,112 by the fourth year. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 64% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,528 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,462 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $16,071,485 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Bradley carry a median federal debt of $23,250 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $23,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Bradley.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,500 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Bradley.
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 Bradley.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 819 | $30,213 |
| Completed (graduates) | 571 | $41,405 |
| Did not complete | 248 | $20,102 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $492.35/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 Bradley.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 799 | $30,656 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 20 | $8,132 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Bradley.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Bradley is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1202 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $23,250 |
| Middle income | $23,250 |
| High income | $23,250 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $23,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $23,625 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $23,250 |
| Independent students | $23,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Bradley.
Subsidized and 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?
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.