by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Denver College of Nursing: 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.
Counting every undergraduate at Denver College of Nursing, 62% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $9,182 annually.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $18,364 by year two and around $36,728 after four. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 62% |
| Average federal loan per year | $9,182 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 627 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,757,418 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Denver College of Nursing carry a median federal debt of $21,110 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $21,110 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,166 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Denver College of Nursing.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $6,165 |
| 25th percentile | $15,140 |
| 75th percentile | $29,513 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $29,513 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Denver College of Nursing.
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 Denver College of Nursing.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 166 | $21,108 |
| Completed (graduates) | 141 | $22,660 |
| Did not complete | 25 | $14,577 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $269.45/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 Denver College of Nursing.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 146 | $22,346 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 20 | $15,276 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Denver College of Nursing.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Denver College of Nursing appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 192 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $27,122 |
| Middle income | $19,513 |
| High income | $18,013 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,681 |
| Continuing-generation students | $24,513 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,708 |
| Independent students | $26,566 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Denver College of Nursing.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
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.