by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Donnelly College: 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.
For incoming students at Donnelly College, 11% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, at roughly $3,479 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $3,479, equal to roughly 63.3% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
For undergraduates overall at Donnelly College, 36% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $6,746 annually. This is 93.9% higher than the $3,479 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,492 over two years and about $26,984 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 | 36% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,746 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 123 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $829,791 |
The median student at Donnelly College borrows $8,747 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,747 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,842 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,000 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Donnelly College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,321 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $11,696 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $19,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Donnelly College.
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Donnelly 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 official Department of Education two-year default rate for Donnelly College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 132 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,628 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,225 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,242 |
| Independent students | $9,450 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Donnelly 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.
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.