by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend California State University-Sacramento: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Sac State specifically, 22% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $5,072 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,733, or about 86.1% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at Sac State, freshmen included, 23% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $6,831 in federal loans per year. It comes to 44.3% above the $4,733 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,662 over two years and about $27,324 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 23% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,831 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 6,450 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $44,062,308 |
The median student at Sac State borrows $12,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $15,000 |
| 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 Sac State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $22,460 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Sac State.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Sac State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2110 | $16,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1288 | $16,507 |
| Did not complete | 822 | $15,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $196.29/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Sac State.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1985 | $16,018 |
| No Stafford loan | 125 | $15,000 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1700 | $15,986 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 410 | $16,037 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Sac 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 official Department of Education two-year default rate for Sac State is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4899 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,500 |
| Middle income | $11,250 |
| High income | $13,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,000 |
| Independent students | $15,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Sac State.
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.
Important to Remember
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.