by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Colorado State University-Fort Collins: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Among first-year students at Colorado State, 36% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, averaging $9,688 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,024, equal to roughly 91.3% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at Colorado State (freshmen included), 32% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $6,167 each per year. This works out to 22.8% greater than the first-year federal average of $5,024.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,334 by year two and around $24,668 over a four-year span. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 32% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,167 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 8,152 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $50,269,696 |
The median student at Colorado State borrows $14,750 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
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 Colorado State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $6,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,535 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,750 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Colorado State.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Colorado State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 4276 | $29,130 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2362 | $36,000 |
| Did not complete | 1914 | $22,760 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $428.08/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 Colorado State.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 4146 | $29,364 |
| No Stafford loan | 130 | $20,693 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 3574 | $31,001 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 702 | $20,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Colorado State.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Colorado State follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4511 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,822 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $14,513 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,468 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,250 |
| Independent students | $16,516 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Colorado State.
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
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.