by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend California State University-Fresno— 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.
Looking at the entering class at Fresno State, 15% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $4,964 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,633, representing 84.2% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at Fresno State (freshmen included), 19% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $6,444 a year. It comes to 39.1% above the $4,633 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,888 in two years and roughly $25,776 across a four-year program. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 19% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,444 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,091 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $26,363,166 |
The middle borrower at Fresno State owes $12,463 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,463 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $14,505 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Fresno State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,250 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $21,501 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Fresno State.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Fresno State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 580 | $13,580 |
| Completed (graduates) | 364 | $12,050 |
| Did not complete | 216 | $16,571 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $143.29/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Fresno State.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 567 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 13 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 380 | $13,458 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 200 | $15,348 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Fresno State.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Fresno State follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3366 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $11,750 |
| Middle income | $11,000 |
| High income | $14,661 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,094 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,665 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,250 |
| Independent students | $13,755 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Fresno 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.