by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Florida Atlantic 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.
At FAU, 33% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $7,975 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,133, representing 93.3% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at FAU (freshmen included), 28% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $6,376 in federal loans per year. That is 24.2% greater than the freshman federal average of $5,133.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,752 after two years and $25,504 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 | 28% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,376 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 6,482 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $41,326,365 |
The middle borrower at FAU owes $12,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $17,236 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,500 |
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 FAU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $22,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,250 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at FAU.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at FAU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1892 | $14,411 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1077 | $15,000 |
| Did not complete | 815 | $13,883 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $178.37/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at FAU.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1859 | $14,388 |
| No Stafford loan | 33 | $16,000 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1473 | $14,236 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 419 | $15,000 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. FAU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for FAU is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4468 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,500 |
| Middle income | $12,000 |
| High income | $12,618 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,077 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,250 |
| Independent students | $15,000 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at FAU.
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.