by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Hesston College— 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 Hesston specifically, 60% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $7,207 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,135, amounting to 93.4% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Counting every undergraduate at Hesston, 66% take out federal student loans, at an average of $6,763 each per year. That amounts to 31.7% greater than the $5,135 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,526 by year two and around $27,052 over four years. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 66% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,763 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 204 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,379,665 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Hesston carry a median federal debt of $12,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Hesston.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,000 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $16,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $23,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Hesston.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Hesston.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 45 | $15,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 20 | $25,143 |
| Did not complete | 25 | $13,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $298.98/mo.
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Hesston.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Hesston follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 201 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $11,240 |
| Middle income | $12,000 |
| High income | $12,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $14,750 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Hesston.
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
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.