by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Colgate 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.
At Colgate, 15% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, averaging $8,579 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,279, equal to roughly 77.8% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at Colgate (freshmen included), 12% take out federal student loans, at an average of $5,005 in federal loans per year. This is 17.0% higher than the first-year federal average of $4,279.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $10,010 across two years and $20,020 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 12% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,005 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 384 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,921,911 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Colgate carry a median federal debt of $13,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $15,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,750 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Colgate.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,000 |
| 25th percentile | $8,000 |
| 75th percentile | $18,859 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $25,333 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Colgate.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Colgate.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 93 | $59,463 |
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Colgate.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 75 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 18 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 72 | $50,465 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 21 | $96,889 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Colgate.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Colgate is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 255 |
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 | $8,012 |
| Middle income | $10,924 |
| High income | $16,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,688 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Colgate.
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
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.