by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Dickinson College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Dickinson, 47% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $6,752 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $4,928, or about 89.6% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Dickinson, 39% take out federal student loans, for a typical $6,137 each per year. That amounts to 24.5% higher than the freshman federal average of $4,928.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,274 in two years and roughly $24,548 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 39% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,137 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 847 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,197,761 |
The middle borrower at Dickinson owes $17,294 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,294 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,187 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Dickinson.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,000 |
| 75th percentile | $25,760 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $30,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Dickinson.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Dickinson.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 133 | $32,798 |
| Completed (graduates) | 96 | $45,729 |
| Did not complete | 37 | $23,029 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $543.77/mo.
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Dickinson.
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 Dickinson is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 334 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $13,186 |
| Middle income | $16,250 |
| High income | $19,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,802 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,250 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Dickinson.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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.
Important to Remember
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.