by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for College of Saint Mary— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Saint Mary, 56% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, for an average of $5,653 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,857, amounting to 88.3% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Looking at all undergraduates at Saint Mary, freshmen included, 53% take out federal student loans, averaging $6,012 per year. This works out to 23.8% more than the $4,857 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,024 by year two and around $24,048 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 53% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,012 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 239 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,436,947 |
The middle borrower at Saint Mary owes $17,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $24,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Saint Mary.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,500 |
| 25th percentile | $9,897 |
| 75th percentile | $31,875 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $41,750 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Saint Mary.
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 Saint Mary.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 190 | $20,814 |
| Completed (graduates) | 146 | $21,389 |
| Did not complete | 44 | $17,399 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $254.34/mo.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Saint Mary.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Saint Mary follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 462 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $17,500 |
| Middle income | $15,724 |
| High income | $19,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,828 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,500 |
| Independent students | $17,800 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Saint Mary.
Subsidized and 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.
Important to Remember
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.