by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Cleveland University-Kansas City: 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 Cleveland, 100% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $5,444 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $5,444, or about 99.0% 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 Cleveland (freshmen included), 93% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $6,351 each per year. This works out to 16.7% more than the $5,444 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,702 over two years and about $25,404 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 93% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,351 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 80 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $508,104 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Cleveland carry a median federal debt of $9,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,586 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Cleveland.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,250 |
| 25th percentile | $5,250 |
| 75th percentile | $12,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $25,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Cleveland.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Cleveland.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 82 | $16,041 |
| Completed (graduates) | 58 | $17,216 |
| Did not complete | 24 | $14,000 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $204.72/mo.
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Cleveland.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Cleveland follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 148 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,000 |
| Middle income | $10,250 |
| High income | $9,795 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $10,625 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $10,170 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Cleveland.
Subsidized vs. 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.
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.