by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Capella University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Capella University, 69% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $6,202 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $6,202. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Capella University, 47% take out federal student loans, for a typical $7,314 per year. That amounts to 17.9% larger than the $6,202 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $14,628 by year two and around $29,256 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 47% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,314 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 7,617 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $55,708,763 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Capella University carry a median federal debt of $8,814 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,814 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $14,968 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,414 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Capella University.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,678 |
| 25th percentile | $3,471 |
| 75th percentile | $23,976 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,339 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Capella University.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Capella University.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 8906 | $11,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 4217 | $11,596 |
| Did not complete | 4689 | $10,700 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $137.89/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Capella University.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 8876 | $11,000 |
| No Stafford loan | 30 | $13,476 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 6517 | $10,768 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 2389 | $12,000 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Capella University.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Capella University appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 17326 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,151 |
| Middle income | $9,178 |
| High income | $9,375 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,889 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,303 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,625 |
| Independent students | $9,031 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Capella University.
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.
Did You Know?
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.