by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Elizabeth City State University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at ECSU, 65% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $5,304 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $5,002, amounting to 90.9% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
For undergraduates overall at ECSU, 59% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $6,073 per year. That is 21.4% larger than the $5,002 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,146 over two years and about $24,292 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 59% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,073 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,105 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,711,152 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at ECSU carry a median federal debt of $12,656 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,656 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,463 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at ECSU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,870 |
| 25th percentile | $8,808 |
| 75th percentile | $31,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $39,509 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at ECSU.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for ECSU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 245 | $10,458 |
| Completed (graduates) | 80 | $10,645 |
| Did not complete | 165 | $10,458 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $126.58/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at ECSU.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 174 | $9,639 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 71 | $13,100 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for ECSU.
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 ECSU follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 16.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 700 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,626 |
| Middle income | $12,000 |
| High income | $14,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,719 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,241 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,719 |
| Independent students | $12,604 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at ECSU.
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.
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.