by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for George Mason University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At GMU specifically, 37% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $8,375 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $5,070, equal to roughly 92.2% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. 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 GMU, 31% take out federal student loans, at an average of $6,503 each per year. It comes to 28.3% more than the $5,070 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,006 over two years and about $26,012 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 31% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,503 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 8,491 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $55,220,744 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at GMU carry a median federal debt of $15,750 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,500 |
| 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 GMU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,520 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at GMU.
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 GMU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 3219 | $23,051 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2113 | $25,142 |
| Did not complete | 1106 | $20,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $298.97/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at GMU.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 3141 | $23,000 |
| No Stafford loan | 78 | $26,599 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2575 | $24,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 644 | $19,165 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. GMU.
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 GMU is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5116 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,000 |
| Middle income | $16,000 |
| High income | $15,125 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,751 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $18,387 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for GMU.
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.
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.