by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Dean College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Dean College specifically, 76% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, averaging $11,654 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,444, equal to roughly 99.0% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Looking at all undergraduates at Dean College, freshmen included, 72% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $6,348 a year. It comes to 16.6% above the freshman federal average of $5,444.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,696 across two years and $25,392 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 72% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,348 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 823 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,224,785 |
The middle borrower at Dean College owes $12,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Dean College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,410 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $17,000 |
| 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 Dean College.
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 Dean College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 284 | $33,519 |
| Completed (graduates) | 141 | $58,742 |
| Did not complete | 143 | $24,517 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $698.5/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Dean College.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 271 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 13 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Dean 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 Dean College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 14.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 429 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,000 |
| Middle income | $12,000 |
| High income | $12,156 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,750 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $10,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Dean College.
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
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.