by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend College of Our Lady of the Elms— 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.
For incoming students at Elms College, 66% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, for an average of $7,475 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,158, amounting to 93.8% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Looking at all undergraduates at Elms College, freshmen included, 77% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $10,582 in federal loans per year. It comes to 105.2% larger than the $5,158 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $21,164 by year two and around $42,328 over four years. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 77% |
| Average federal loan per year | $10,582 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 732 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,746,162 |
The median student at Elms College borrows $20,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $20,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,000 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Elms College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,500 |
| 75th percentile | $28,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,418 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Elms College.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at Elms College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 235 | $25,154 |
| Completed (graduates) | 157 | $28,117 |
| Did not complete | 78 | $16,492 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $334.34/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at Elms College.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 211 | $25,852 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 24 | $17,415 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Elms College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Elms College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 354 |
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 | $20,750 |
| Middle income | $21,065 |
| High income | $19,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $20,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $20,375 |
| Independent students | $20,834 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Elms College.
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?
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.