by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Hollins University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Hollins, 59% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $5,691 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,026, or about 91.4% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. 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 Hollins, 56% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $6,511 a year. It comes to 29.5% more than the $5,026 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,022 over two years and about $26,044 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 56% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,511 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 384 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,500,196 |
The median student at Hollins borrows $22,925 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $22,925 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,450 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Hollins.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,750 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,500 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Hollins.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Hollins.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 183 | $18,530 |
| Completed (graduates) | 99 | $25,450 |
| Did not complete | 84 | $12,349 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $302.63/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Hollins.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 172 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 11 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Hollins.
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 Hollins follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 341 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $21,000 |
| Middle income | $20,500 |
| High income | $26,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $21,322 |
| Continuing-generation students | $25,888 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $23,250 |
| Independent students | $15,750 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Hollins.
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.