by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Colorado School of Mines: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Mines specifically, 36% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $10,414 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,167, amounting to 93.9% 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.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Mines, 32% take out federal student loans, at an average of $6,387 per year. It comes to 23.6% greater than the $5,167 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,774 over two years and about $25,548 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 32% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,387 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,846 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $11,789,925 |
The middle borrower at Mines owes $17,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Mines.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $10,250 |
| 75th percentile | $28,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Mines.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Mines.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 734 | $41,721 |
| Completed (graduates) | 468 | $53,505 |
| Did not complete | 266 | $28,791 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $636.23/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 Mines.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 711 | $42,300 |
| No Stafford loan | 23 | $20,000 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 673 | $43,846 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 61 | $17,700 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Mines.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Mines follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 700 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,441 |
| Middle income | $17,500 |
| High income | $17,143 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $18,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,600 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $16,751 |
| Independent students | $23,011 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Mines.
The Difference Between 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?
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.