by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Chicago State University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Among first-year students at CSU, 87% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $4,958 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $4,958, amounting to 90.1% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at CSU, 88% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $7,735 each per year. That amounts to 56.0% higher than the $4,958 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $15,470 across two years and $30,940 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 88% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,735 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,168 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $9,034,058 |
The middle borrower at CSU owes $21,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $21,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $30,625 |
| Students who withdrew | $14,250 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at CSU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,330 |
| 25th percentile | $9,000 |
| 75th percentile | $38,155 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $51,250 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at CSU.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for CSU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 435 | $12,762 |
| Completed (graduates) | 157 | $13,256 |
| Did not complete | 278 | $12,677 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $157.63/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at CSU.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 349 | $12,700 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 86 | $13,009 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at CSU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for CSU appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1813 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $23,000 |
| Middle income | $19,000 |
| High income | $15,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $21,735 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,250 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,832 |
| Independent students | $24,762 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for CSU.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Worth Knowing
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.