by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Saint Elizabeth University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at CSE, 76% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $6,801 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,707. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. 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 CSE, freshmen included, 69% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $6,782 a year. That amounts to 18.8% larger than the $5,707 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,564 by year two and around $27,128 over four years. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 69% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,782 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 440 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,984,045 |
The middle borrower at CSE owes $13,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $24,934 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,550 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for CSE.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,000 |
| 75th percentile | $26,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,711 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at CSE.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at CSE.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 185 | $16,152 |
| Completed (graduates) | 117 | $18,500 |
| Did not complete | 68 | $12,437 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $219.98/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at CSE.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 161 | $15,751 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 24 | $22,995 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. CSE.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for CSE follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 380 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $14,750 |
| Middle income | $13,000 |
| High income | $11,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,250 |
| Independent students | $12,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at CSE.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
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.