by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Doane University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Doane Crete specifically, 93% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $8,014 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,601. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Looking at all undergraduates at Doane Crete, freshmen included, 80% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $6,912 a year. That amounts to 23.4% higher than the $5,601 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,824 over two years and about $27,648 over a four-year span. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 80% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,912 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 789 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,453,784 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Doane Crete carry a median federal debt of $19,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,998 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Doane Crete.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,866 |
| 25th percentile | $6,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Doane Crete.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Doane Crete.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 989 | $21,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 411 | $23,500 |
| Did not complete | 578 | $19,762 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $279.44/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 Doane Crete.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 976 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 13 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 408 | $21,037 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 581 | $21,000 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Doane Crete.
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 Doane Crete is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 624 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,575 |
| Middle income | $18,971 |
| High income | $21,223 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $15,330 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Doane Crete.
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.