by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Florida State 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 Florida State, 19% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, for an average of $6,422 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,076, or about 92.3% 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.
Looking at all undergraduates at Florida State, freshmen included, 21% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $6,211 each per year. That amounts to 22.4% larger than the $5,076 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,422 after two years and $24,844 by the fourth year. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 21% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,211 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 6,564 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $40,767,677 |
The median student at Florida State borrows $16,100 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,100 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $18,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,009 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Florida State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $8,400 |
| 75th percentile | $27,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Florida State.
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 Florida State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1910 | $16,295 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1455 | $17,000 |
| Did not complete | 455 | $14,612 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $202.15/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Florida State.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1869 | $16,358 |
| No Stafford loan | 41 | $13,490 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1628 | $16,544 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 282 | $15,564 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Florida State.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Florida State appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 6993 |
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 | $15,233 |
| Middle income | $15,339 |
| High income | $17,061 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,589 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,860 |
| Independent students | $17,961 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Florida State.
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
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.