by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Gustavus Adolphus College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Gustavus Adolphus, 55% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $9,793 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,266, which is 95.7% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical 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.
Across the full undergraduate body at Gustavus Adolphus (freshmen included), 55% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $6,377 each per year. This works out to 21.1% above the first-year federal average of $5,266.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,754 by year two and around $25,508 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 55% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,377 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,054 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,721,833 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Gustavus Adolphus carry a median federal debt of $23,250 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $23,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,774 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Gustavus Adolphus.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,700 |
| 25th percentile | $14,000 |
| 75th percentile | $28,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Gustavus Adolphus.
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 Gustavus Adolphus.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 151 | $25,907 |
| Completed (graduates) | 116 | $34,265 |
| Did not complete | 35 | $12,500 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $407.45/mo.
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Gustavus Adolphus.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Gustavus Adolphus follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 557 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $22,950 |
| Middle income | $22,905 |
| High income | $23,250 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $23,153 |
| Continuing-generation students | $23,250 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Gustavus Adolphus.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
Worth Knowing
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.