by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Linfield University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at Linfield, 65% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $7,886 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,304, representing 96.4% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Looking at all undergraduates at Linfield, freshmen included, 86% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $7,143 each per year. This works out to 34.7% above the first-year federal average of $5,304.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $14,286 after two years and $28,572 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 86% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,143 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,408 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $10,056,885 |
The middle borrower at Linfield owes $20,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $20,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,123 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Linfield.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $11,511 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Linfield.
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 Linfield.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 324 | $26,484 |
| Completed (graduates) | 224 | $36,067 |
| Did not complete | 100 | $18,337 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $428.88/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Linfield.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 308 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 16 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Linfield.
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 Linfield is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 729 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,797 |
| Middle income | $23,000 |
| High income | $20,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $21,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,892 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $20,432 |
| Independent students | $21,000 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Linfield.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
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.