by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Houston Christian University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At HBU specifically, 63% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, averaging $6,205 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $5,335, which is 97.0% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. 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 HBU, 59% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $6,621 annually. This works out to 24.1% higher than the $5,335 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,242 in two years and roughly $26,484 by the fourth year. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 59% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,621 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,631 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $10,798,974 |
The median student at HBU borrows $11,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $11,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,642 |
| 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 HBU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,250 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $24,976 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,250 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at HBU.
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 HBU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 515 | $19,191 |
| Completed (graduates) | 276 | $28,262 |
| Did not complete | 239 | $15,885 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $336.07/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at HBU.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 503 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 12 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 427 | $20,527 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 88 | $16,066 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. HBU.
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 HBU follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 654 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $11,000 |
| High income | $14,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $10,800 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,505 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for HBU.
The Difference Between 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.
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.