by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Goshen College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Goshen, 52% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $5,795 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $5,059, or about 92.0% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Goshen, 48% borrow through federal student loan programs, borrowing on average $6,523 annually. This works out to 28.9% larger than the freshman federal average of $5,059.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,046 after two years and $26,092 across a four-year program. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 48% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,523 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 366 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,387,591 |
The median student at Goshen borrows $13,750 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,974 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Goshen.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,010 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,150 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,200 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Goshen.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Goshen.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 92 | $15,519 |
| Completed (graduates) | 45 | $17,610 |
| Did not complete | 47 | $13,828 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $209.4/mo.
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Goshen.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Goshen is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 270 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $13,625 |
| Middle income | $12,791 |
| High income | $15,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,944 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $12,226 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Goshen.
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
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.