by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend CUNY Medgar Evers 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 Medgar specifically, 4% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $4,838 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,291, amounting to 78.0% 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 Medgar, 12% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $5,570 a year. That is 29.8% larger than the freshman federal average of $4,291.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $11,140 by year two and around $22,280 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 12% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,570 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 402 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,239,110 |
The middle borrower at Medgar owes $7,400 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,400 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,988 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Medgar.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,500 |
| 25th percentile | $2,560 |
| 75th percentile | $11,459 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $21,247 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Medgar.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Medgar.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 181 | $9,222 |
| Completed (graduates) | 56 | $10,068 |
| Did not complete | 125 | $9,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $119.72/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 Medgar.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 78 | $10,628 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 103 | $9,000 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Medgar.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Medgar appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 448 |
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 | $7,365 |
| Middle income | $7,346 |
| High income | $8,241 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,132 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,750 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $10,000 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Medgar.
Subsidized vs. 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.
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.