by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Eastern Oregon University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at EOU, 44% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $6,239 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,033, representing 91.5% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at EOU (freshmen included), 42% take out federal student loans, averaging $7,380 a year. It comes to 46.6% higher than the $5,033 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $14,760 over two years and about $29,520 after four. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 42% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,380 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 932 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,878,228 |
The middle borrower at EOU owes $13,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,834 |
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 EOU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,666 |
| 25th percentile | $6,714 |
| 75th percentile | $25,341 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,499 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at EOU.
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 EOU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 403 | $13,420 |
| Completed (graduates) | 133 | $15,500 |
| Did not complete | 270 | $12,478 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $184.31/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 EOU.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 327 | $14,345 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 76 | $11,097 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at EOU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for EOU is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1202 |
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 | $15,470 |
| Middle income | $12,833 |
| High income | $12,132 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,680 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,832 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $16,666 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at EOU.
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.