by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend LaGrange College: 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.
Among first-year students at LaGrange, 75% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $5,941 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,535. This reaches or tops the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap for a typical dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at LaGrange (freshmen included), 68% take out federal student loans, at an average of $6,362 per year. That amounts to 14.9% more than the first-year federal average of $5,535.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,724 across two years and $25,448 by the fourth year. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 68% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,362 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 395 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,512,833 |
The median student at LaGrange borrows $15,750 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,730 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
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 LaGrange.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $26,001 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at LaGrange.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for LaGrange.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 200 | $15,746 |
| Completed (graduates) | 93 | $18,710 |
| Did not complete | 107 | $14,214 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $222.48/mo.
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. LaGrange.
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 LaGrange is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 417 |
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 | $15,000 |
| Middle income | $18,250 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $22,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for LaGrange.
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?
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.