by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for California Lutheran University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at CLU, 58% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, averaging $7,725 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,157, equal to roughly 93.8% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. 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 CLU (freshmen included), 50% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $6,438 a year. This works out to 24.8% larger than the $5,157 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,876 across two years and $25,752 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 | 50% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,438 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,185 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,629,575 |
The middle borrower at CLU owes $18,970 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $18,970 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,669 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,438 |
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 CLU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,475 |
| 25th percentile | $8,750 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at CLU.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at CLU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 736 | $28,435 |
| Completed (graduates) | 562 | $32,125 |
| Did not complete | 174 | $22,956 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $382.0/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at CLU.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 722 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 702 | $28,813 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 34 | $17,147 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. CLU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for CLU appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 862 |
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 | $18,750 |
| Middle income | $20,148 |
| High income | $17,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,373 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,750 |
| Independent students | $21,900 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at CLU.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
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.