by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Central Penn College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Central Penn, 83% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, averaging $6,350 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
Federal loans alone average $4,994, amounting to 90.8% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Across the full undergraduate body at Central Penn (freshmen included), 73% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $6,835 per year. This is 36.9% more than the $4,994 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,670 across two years and $27,340 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 73% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,835 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 530 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,622,614 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Central Penn carry a median federal debt of $13,035 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,035 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,194 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,667 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Central Penn.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,050 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $37,079 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Central Penn.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Central Penn.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 320 | $11,239 |
| Completed (graduates) | 134 | $21,065 |
| Did not complete | 186 | $8,435 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $250.49/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 Central Penn.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 310 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 285 | $11,223 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 35 | $11,975 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Central Penn.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Central Penn appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 710 |
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 | $13,031 |
| Middle income | $14,160 |
| High income | $12,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,915 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,166 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,000 |
| Independent students | $14,887 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Central Penn.
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?
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.