by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for CUNY Brooklyn College— 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.
At Brooklyn College, 4% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $7,386 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $4,835, amounting to 87.9% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year 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.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Brooklyn College, 7% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $6,463 in federal loans per year. This is 33.7% larger than the freshman federal average of $4,835.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,926 in two years and roughly $25,852 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 7% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,463 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 760 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,911,869 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Brooklyn College carry a median federal debt of $9,218 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,218 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,266 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Brooklyn College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,823 |
| 75th percentile | $16,330 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $25,818 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Brooklyn College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Brooklyn College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 782 | $16,120 |
| Completed (graduates) | 475 | $17,273 |
| Did not complete | 307 | $15,483 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $205.39/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Brooklyn College.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 764 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 18 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 384 | $17,475 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 398 | $15,219 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Brooklyn College.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Brooklyn College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1775 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $8,500 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $10,677 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,917 |
| Continuing-generation students | $10,400 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $7,599 |
| Independent students | $10,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Brooklyn College.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Important to Remember
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.