by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Kean 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 Kean, 48% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, at roughly $6,085 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,152, amounting to 93.7% 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 Kean, 43% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $6,454 per year. This is 25.3% greater than the $5,152 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,908 in two years and roughly $25,816 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 43% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,454 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,621 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $29,822,384 |
The middle borrower at Kean owes $17,199 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,199 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,000 |
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 Kean.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,125 |
| 25th percentile | $8,250 |
| 75th percentile | $28,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $36,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Kean.
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 Kean.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1646 | $19,152 |
| Completed (graduates) | 871 | $22,000 |
| Did not complete | 775 | $16,131 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $261.6/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Kean.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1617 | $19,301 |
| No Stafford loan | 29 | $11,500 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1474 | $19,415 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 172 | $17,000 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Kean.
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 Kean appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3002 |
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 | $17,500 |
| Middle income | $17,253 |
| High income | $16,250 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,250 |
| Independent students | $21,601 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Kean.
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.
Did You Know?
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.