by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Holy Cross College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Holy Cross College, 71% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $6,211 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,298, which is 96.3% 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.
Looking at all undergraduates at Holy Cross College, freshmen included, 73% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $5,977 each per year. It comes to 12.8% larger than the freshman federal average of $5,298.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $11,954 after two years and $23,908 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 73% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,977 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 361 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,157,555 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Holy Cross College carry a median federal debt of $11,904 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $11,904 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $24,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
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 Holy Cross College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $29,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Holy Cross College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Holy Cross College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 64 | $17,500 |
| Completed (graduates) | 32 | $20,053 |
| Did not complete | 32 | $17,028 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $238.45/mo.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Holy Cross College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Holy Cross College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 139 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $11,317 |
| Middle income | $19,750 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Holy Cross College.
Subsidized vs. 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.
Important to Remember
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.