by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Jackson State University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Jackson State, 84% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $9,556 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $8,968. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. 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 Jackson State, 82% take out federal student loans, borrowing on average $9,439 annually. It comes to 5.3% larger than the first-year federal average of $8,968.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $18,878 across two years and $37,756 by the fourth year. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 82% |
| Average federal loan per year | $9,439 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 3,921 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $37,010,410 |
The median student at Jackson State borrows $24,751 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $24,751 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $30,470 |
| Students who withdrew | $14,625 |
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 Jackson State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $9,000 |
| 75th percentile | $33,526 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $45,841 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Jackson State.
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 Jackson State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1313 | $12,835 |
| Completed (graduates) | 647 | $15,000 |
| Did not complete | 666 | $11,400 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $178.37/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Jackson State.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1303 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1247 | $12,751 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 66 | $13,937 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Jackson State.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Jackson State is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2499 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $26,250 |
| Middle income | $20,914 |
| High income | $18,318 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $24,781 |
| Continuing-generation students | $24,679 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $22,250 |
| Independent students | $28,971 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Jackson State.
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.
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.