by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Hope International University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at Hope, 72% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $7,471 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,142, amounting to 93.5% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Looking at all undergraduates at Hope, freshmen included, 57% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $6,267 per year. That is 21.9% larger than the $5,142 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,534 after two years and $25,068 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 57% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,267 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 312 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,955,163 |
The median student at Hope borrows $15,738 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,738 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,756 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Hope.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $6,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,231 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,925 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are 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 | 183 | $18,178 |
| Completed (graduates) | 99 | $21,733 |
| Did not complete | 84 | $15,928 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $258.43/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at Hope.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 155 | $18,190 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 28 | $17,567 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Hope.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Hope follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 358 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $17,750 |
| Middle income | $15,072 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,750 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,568 |
| Independent students | $23,000 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Hope.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
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.