by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend DeSales University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at DeSales, 70% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, borrowing on average $11,066 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,348, or about 97.2% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at DeSales, 65% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $6,749 a year. This works out to 26.2% greater than the $5,348 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,498 by year two and around $26,996 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 65% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,749 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,372 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $9,259,400 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at DeSales carry a median federal debt of $20,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $20,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,788 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
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 DeSales.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,538 |
| 25th percentile | $7,670 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at DeSales.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at DeSales.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 499 | $24,535 |
| Completed (graduates) | 319 | $33,790 |
| Did not complete | 180 | $16,553 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $401.8/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 DeSales.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 403 | $26,818 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 96 | $18,304 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for DeSales.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for DeSales follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 693 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $21,500 |
| Middle income | $19,750 |
| High income | $19,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,341 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $20,500 |
| Independent students | $19,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at DeSales.
The Difference Between 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
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.