by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Jacksonville 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.
Looking at the entering class at JU, 51% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, borrowing on average $11,504 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,395, which is 98.1% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
For undergraduates overall at JU, 45% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $6,797 each per year. This works out to 26.0% higher than the freshman federal average of $5,395.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,594 in two years and roughly $27,188 by the fourth year. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 45% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,797 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,198 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $8,142,797 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at JU carry a median federal debt of $12,803 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,803 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at JU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,000 |
| 25th percentile | $6,250 |
| 75th percentile | $25,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at JU.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at JU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 658 | $21,210 |
| Completed (graduates) | 302 | $26,267 |
| Did not complete | 356 | $18,099 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $312.34/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 JU.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 646 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 12 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 565 | $21,990 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 93 | $13,500 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for JU.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for JU is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1252 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,500 |
| Middle income | $12,750 |
| High income | $13,450 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,817 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $15,047 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at JU.
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.
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.