by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Lafayette College: 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.
Among first-year students at Lafayette, 23% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $10,878 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $4,451, representing 80.9% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Looking at all undergraduates at Lafayette, freshmen included, 20% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $5,119 a year. That amounts to 15.0% larger than the $4,451 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $10,238 across two years and $20,476 over four years. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 20% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,119 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 542 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,774,443 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Lafayette carry a median federal debt of $14,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $16,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Lafayette.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Lafayette.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Lafayette.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 108 | $49,979 |
| Completed (graduates) | 89 | $59,000 |
| Did not complete | 19 | $22,000 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $701.57/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Lafayette.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 98 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 98 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 10 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Lafayette.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Lafayette follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 305 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,000 |
| Middle income | $15,750 |
| High income | $14,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,000 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Lafayette.
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.
Did You Know?
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.