by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Kutztown University of Pennsylvania: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Kutztown University, 67% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $6,919 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,503. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at Kutztown University (freshmen included), 63% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $6,473 in federal loans per year. It comes to 17.6% larger than the freshman federal average of $5,503.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,946 over two years and about $25,892 over a four-year span. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 63% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,473 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,023 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $26,041,859 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Kutztown University carry a median federal debt of $20,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $20,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
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 Kutztown University.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,250 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Kutztown University.
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 Kutztown University.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1386 | $20,495 |
| Completed (graduates) | 739 | $26,389 |
| Did not complete | 647 | $16,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $313.79/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Kutztown University.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1373 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 13 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1273 | $20,494 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 113 | $20,753 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Kutztown University.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Kutztown University appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2539 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,750 |
| Middle income | $21,000 |
| High income | $20,100 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $20,002 |
| Independent students | $19,000 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Kutztown University.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
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.