by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Eastern Michigan University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Eastern Michigan specifically, 49% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, averaging $6,820 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $5,820. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at Eastern Michigan (freshmen included), 44% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $7,509 in federal loans per year. It comes to 29.0% greater than the $5,820 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $15,018 in two years and roughly $30,036 across a four-year program. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 44% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,509 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,769 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $35,809,131 |
The middle borrower at Eastern Michigan owes $18,750 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $18,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $12,000 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Eastern Michigan.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,500 |
| 25th percentile | $8,002 |
| 75th percentile | $31,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $43,298 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Eastern Michigan.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at Eastern Michigan.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 3124 | $14,413 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1628 | $16,878 |
| Did not complete | 1496 | $12,918 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $200.7/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Eastern Michigan.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 3081 | $14,616 |
| No Stafford loan | 43 | $7,081 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2876 | $14,645 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 248 | $12,901 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Eastern Michigan.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Eastern Michigan is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5631 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,463 |
| Middle income | $18,750 |
| High income | $18,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,199 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,750 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,000 |
| Independent students | $18,750 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Eastern Michigan.
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.