by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Chestnut Hill College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at CHC, 83% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $7,086 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,542. 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.
Across the full undergraduate body at CHC (freshmen included), 79% take out federal student loans, averaging $6,980 per year. This is 25.9% more than the $5,542 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,960 by year two and around $27,920 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 | 79% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,980 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 699 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,878,675 |
The middle borrower at CHC owes $20,782 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $20,782 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,389 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,416 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 CHC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,000 |
| 25th percentile | $10,159 |
| 75th percentile | $28,665 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,833 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at CHC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at CHC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 275 | $23,143 |
| Completed (graduates) | 145 | $28,000 |
| Did not complete | 130 | $17,141 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $332.95/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at CHC.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 253 | $24,438 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 22 | $10,000 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. CHC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for CHC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 654 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $21,512 |
| Middle income | $19,500 |
| High income | $19,792 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,728 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,300 |
| Independent students | $23,897 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at CHC.
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.
Did You Know?
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.