by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Centenary University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at Centenary, 73% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $6,790 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,513. This reaches or tops the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap for a typical dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
For undergraduates overall at Centenary, 64% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $5,743 annually. It comes to 4.2% above the first-year federal average of $5,513.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,486 over two years and about $22,972 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 64% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,743 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 596 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,422,599 |
The middle borrower at Centenary owes $19,321 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,321 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,163 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,960 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Centenary.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,000 |
| 25th percentile | $9,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,856 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Centenary.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Centenary.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 205 | $21,857 |
| Completed (graduates) | 137 | $22,725 |
| Did not complete | 68 | $20,146 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $270.22/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Centenary.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 161 | $21,705 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 44 | $22,000 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Centenary.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Centenary is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 653 |
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 | $19,408 |
| Middle income | $20,000 |
| High income | $19,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,250 |
| Independent students | $23,571 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Centenary.
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
Declaring bankruptcy does not erase federal student loan debt. If you stop paying, the federal government can garnish a portion of your wages until the loans are repaid.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.