by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Furman University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at Furman, 31% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $9,779 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federal loan is $5,262, amounting to 95.7% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at Furman, 28% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $6,200 per year. It comes to 17.8% above the first-year federal average of $5,262.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,400 in two years and roughly $24,800 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 28% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,200 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 647 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,011,624 |
The middle borrower at Furman owes $19,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,730 |
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 Furman.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $9,250 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,843 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Furman.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Furman.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 202 | $44,893 |
| Completed (graduates) | 138 | $54,750 |
| Did not complete | 64 | $26,737 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $651.04/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Furman.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 190 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 12 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 179 | $46,273 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 23 | $25,000 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Furman.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Furman follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 325 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,031 |
| Middle income | $19,500 |
| High income | $19,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $13,544 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Furman.
Subsidized and 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.
Important to Remember
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.