by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Eastern Mennonite 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.
For incoming students at Eastern Mennonite, 64% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $8,303 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,359, representing 97.4% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at Eastern Mennonite, 60% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $6,802 each per year. It comes to 26.9% higher than the freshman federal average of $5,359.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,604 by year two and around $27,208 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 60% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,802 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 480 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,265,023 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Eastern Mennonite carry a median federal debt of $16,750 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $24,813 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,770 |
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 Eastern Mennonite.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,600 |
| 25th percentile | $7,200 |
| 75th percentile | $25,025 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Eastern Mennonite.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Eastern Mennonite.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 201 | $19,700 |
| Completed (graduates) | 110 | $22,187 |
| Did not complete | 91 | $16,181 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $263.83/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Eastern Mennonite.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 163 | $20,606 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 38 | $15,144 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Eastern Mennonite.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Eastern Mennonite follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 348 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,750 |
| Middle income | $17,033 |
| High income | $16,812 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,846 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,250 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,500 |
| Independent students | $14,849 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Eastern Mennonite.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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.