by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Bucknell University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Bucknell, 35% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $11,713 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,292, equal to roughly 96.2% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at Bucknell (freshmen included), 35% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $6,389 annually. It comes to 20.7% greater than the $5,292 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,778 by year two and around $25,556 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 35% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,389 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,333 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $8,515,936 |
The middle borrower at Bucknell owes $23,250 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $23,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,365 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Bucknell.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $6,453 |
| 25th percentile | $14,855 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Bucknell.
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 Bucknell.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 178 | $60,058 |
| Completed (graduates) | 147 | $62,750 |
| Did not complete | 31 | $42,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $746.16/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 Bucknell.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 168 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 165 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 13 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Bucknell.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Bucknell follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 513 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,400 |
| Middle income | $25,000 |
| High income | $25,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $23,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $23,061 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Bucknell.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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?
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.