by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Kent State University at Kent: 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 Kent State, 62% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, borrowing on average $8,047 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,504. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Kent State, 53% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $6,539 per year. That is 18.8% greater than the $5,504 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,078 after two years and $26,156 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 | 53% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,539 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 9,836 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $64,316,816 |
The middle borrower at Kent State owes $17,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $24,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,000 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Kent State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,325 |
| 25th percentile | $6,251 |
| 75th percentile | $29,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $42,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Kent 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 Kent State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 4524 | $19,131 |
| Completed (graduates) | 3009 | $21,394 |
| Did not complete | 1515 | $15,400 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $254.4/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Kent State.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 4476 | $19,155 |
| No Stafford loan | 48 | $14,843 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 4060 | $19,280 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 464 | $17,840 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Kent State.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Kent State is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 9889 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,500 |
| Middle income | $17,838 |
| High income | $17,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,850 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,328 |
| Independent students | $18,751 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Kent State.
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
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.