by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Hope College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Hope specifically, 46% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $8,295 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,148, amounting to 93.6% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Counting every undergraduate at Hope, 45% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $6,246 a year. It comes to 21.3% higher than the $5,148 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,492 after two years and $24,984 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 45% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,246 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,488 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $9,294,470 |
The middle borrower at Hope owes $23,250 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $23,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,800 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Hope.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $13,810 |
| 75th percentile | $28,300 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,250 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Hope.
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 Hope.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 252 | $39,618 |
| Completed (graduates) | 192 | $48,059 |
| Did not complete | 60 | $20,298 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $571.47/mo.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Hope.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Hope follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 569 |
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 | $24,187 |
| Middle income | $24,125 |
| High income | $23,136 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $24,217 |
| Continuing-generation students | $23,250 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $23,250 |
| Independent students | $29,820 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Hope.
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
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.