by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Elmira College: 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.
Looking at the entering class at Elmira, 75% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $9,460 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $5,648. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for 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.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Elmira, 75% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $6,694 a year. This works out to 18.5% greater than the $5,648 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,388 over two years and about $26,776 by the fourth year. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 75% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,694 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 439 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,938,876 |
The middle borrower at Elmira owes $20,230 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $20,230 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
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 Elmira.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,250 |
| 25th percentile | $8,750 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $37,500 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Elmira.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Elmira.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 210 | $27,872 |
| Completed (graduates) | 114 | $41,567 |
| Did not complete | 96 | $17,101 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $494.28/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Elmira.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 192 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 18 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Elmira.
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 Elmira is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 514 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $19,500 |
| Middle income | $24,900 |
| High income | $19,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,510 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $20,480 |
| Independent students | $18,524 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Elmira.
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.
Did You Know?
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.