by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Faulkner University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at Faulkner, 66% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $7,750 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $7,643. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Counting every undergraduate at Faulkner, 59% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $9,483 a year. This works out to 24.1% higher than the $7,643 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $18,966 after two years and $37,932 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 59% |
| Average federal loan per year | $9,483 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 877 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $8,316,649 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Faulkner carry a median federal debt of $15,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Faulkner.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,000 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,730 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $37,028 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Faulkner.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Faulkner.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 430 | $11,187 |
| Completed (graduates) | 201 | $14,000 |
| Did not complete | 229 | $10,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $166.47/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 Faulkner.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 384 | $11,561 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 46 | $9,758 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Faulkner.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Faulkner is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1416 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,750 |
| Middle income | $14,000 |
| High income | $14,600 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,331 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,500 |
| Independent students | $16,603 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Faulkner.
Subsidized vs. 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.
Did You Know?
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.