by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Clemson 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 Clemson, 37% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $12,377 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,342, or about 97.1% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Counting every undergraduate at Clemson, 32% borrow through federal student loan programs, borrowing on average $6,437 annually. This is 20.5% more than the $5,342 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,874 in two years and roughly $25,748 across a four-year program. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 32% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,437 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 7,196 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $46,319,098 |
The middle borrower at Clemson owes $19,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Clemson.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $8,740 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Clemson.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Clemson.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2349 | $31,281 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1751 | $35,463 |
| Did not complete | 598 | $22,074 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $421.69/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Clemson.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2257 | $30,500 |
| No Stafford loan | 92 | $42,690 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2003 | $32,864 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 346 | $21,221 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Clemson.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Clemson is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2698 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $20,025 |
| Middle income | $19,500 |
| High income | $18,638 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,750 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,000 |
| Independent students | $20,875 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Clemson.
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.
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.