by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Columbus State University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at CSU, 44% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $6,135 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $5,158, or about 93.8% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Counting every undergraduate at CSU, 40% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $6,243 a year. It comes to 21.0% higher than the $5,158 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,486 across two years and $24,972 over four years. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 40% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,243 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,278 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $14,222,356 |
The middle borrower at CSU owes $15,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for CSU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $6,250 |
| 75th percentile | $28,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $39,853 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at CSU.
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 CSU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 997 | $12,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 440 | $13,815 |
| Did not complete | 557 | $11,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $164.28/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at CSU.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 985 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 12 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 842 | $12,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 155 | $12,000 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for CSU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for CSU appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1891 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $15,000 |
| Middle income | $15,073 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,976 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $15,026 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at CSU.
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.
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.