by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for California State University-Chico— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Chico State, 36% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $5,265 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,588, representing 83.4% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. 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 Chico State, 33% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $5,594 each per year. That amounts to 21.9% larger than the $4,588 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $11,188 across two years and $22,376 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 33% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,594 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,264 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $23,854,929 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Chico State carry a median federal debt of $14,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $16,552 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,000 |
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 Chico State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,000 |
| 75th percentile | $22,700 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $29,596 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Chico State.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Chico State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 623 | $17,126 |
| Completed (graduates) | 391 | $17,585 |
| Did not complete | 232 | $15,811 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $209.1/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Chico State.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 608 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 15 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 535 | $17,343 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 88 | $16,146 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Chico State.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Chico State is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2784 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $13,500 |
| Middle income | $14,000 |
| High income | $15,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,469 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,740 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $13,750 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Chico State.
Subsidized and 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.
Worth Knowing
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.