by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Dartmouth College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Dartmouth specifically, 42% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $6,587 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,004, representing 91.0% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at Dartmouth (freshmen included), 12% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $5,894 each per year. That amounts to 17.8% greater than the $5,004 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $11,788 in two years and roughly $23,576 across a four-year program. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 12% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,894 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 535 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,153,045 |
The median student at Dartmouth borrows $15,157 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,157 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $17,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,537 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Dartmouth.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,000 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $22,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Dartmouth.
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 Dartmouth.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 269 | $42,827 |
| Completed (graduates) | 183 | $44,481 |
| Did not complete | 86 | $41,034 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $528.93/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 Dartmouth.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 203 | $47,850 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 66 | $37,824 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Dartmouth.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Dartmouth appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 763 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
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 | $7,867 |
| Middle income | $9,449 |
| High income | $17,483 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $11,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,174 |
| Independent students | $14,745 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Dartmouth.
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
Declaring bankruptcy does not erase federal student loan debt. If you stop paying, the federal government can garnish a portion of your wages until the loans are repaid.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.