by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Limestone University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Limestone College, 66% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $7,332 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,674. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Counting every undergraduate at Limestone College, 71% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $9,960 each per year. That is 75.5% higher than the $5,674 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $19,920 by year two and around $39,840 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 71% |
| Average federal loan per year | $9,960 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,080 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $10,756,470 |
The median student at Limestone College borrows $18,750 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $18,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,639 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,750 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Limestone College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,789 |
| 25th percentile | $6,250 |
| 75th percentile | $27,712 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,750 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Limestone College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Limestone College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 401 | $17,457 |
| Completed (graduates) | 174 | $22,193 |
| Did not complete | 227 | $16,520 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $263.9/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at Limestone College.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 378 | $18,100 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 23 | $7,434 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Limestone College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Limestone College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 961 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $20,000 |
| Middle income | $18,750 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $18,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,000 |
| Independent students | $22,803 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Limestone College.
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.
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.