by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Eastern Nazarene College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at ENC, 49% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $7,043 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $5,275, representing 95.9% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Counting every undergraduate at ENC, 52% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $6,640 in federal loans per year. This is 25.9% larger than the $5,275 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,280 across two years and $26,560 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 52% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,640 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 197 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,308,013 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at ENC 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) | $26,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,000 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for ENC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,000 |
| 25th percentile | $8,750 |
| 75th percentile | $27,886 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $36,312 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at ENC.
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 ENC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 124 | $18,323 |
| Completed (graduates) | 75 | $22,000 |
| Did not complete | 49 | $15,630 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $261.6/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at ENC.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 109 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 15 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. ENC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for ENC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 382 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,875 |
| Middle income | $18,500 |
| High income | $20,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $20,515 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,500 |
| Independent students | $23,485 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at ENC.
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
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.