by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend California State University-Long Beach— 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 CSULB, 25% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $5,495 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,707, or about 85.6% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. 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 CSULB (freshmen included), 24% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $6,328 annually. It comes to 34.4% above the $4,707 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,656 in two years and roughly $25,312 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 24% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,328 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 8,150 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $51,575,880 |
The median student at CSULB borrows $12,227 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,227 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $14,289 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for CSULB.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $23,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at CSULB.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for CSULB.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1504 | $16,881 |
| Completed (graduates) | 870 | $15,177 |
| Did not complete | 634 | $18,445 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $180.47/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 CSULB.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1465 | $16,785 |
| No Stafford loan | 39 | $19,108 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 949 | $14,895 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 555 | $20,681 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. CSULB.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for CSULB appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5310 |
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 | $12,000 |
| Middle income | $11,000 |
| High income | $13,646 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $11,961 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,597 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,500 |
| Independent students | $13,313 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at CSULB.
The Difference Between 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.
Important to Remember
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.