by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Longwood University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Among first-year students at Longwood, 53% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $6,782 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,106, amounting to 92.8% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at Longwood (freshmen included), 50% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $6,425 per year. That is 25.8% greater than the $5,106 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,850 after two years and $25,700 across a four-year program. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 50% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,425 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,480 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $9,509,008 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Longwood carry a median federal debt of $19,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
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 Longwood.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,500 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Longwood.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Longwood.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1080 | $25,978 |
| Completed (graduates) | 674 | $36,395 |
| Did not complete | 406 | $16,800 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $432.78/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Longwood.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1050 | $26,740 |
| No Stafford loan | 30 | $11,682 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 948 | $28,189 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 132 | $18,060 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Longwood.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Longwood is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 878 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
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 | $15,000 |
| Middle income | $20,000 |
| High income | $19,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,090 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $10,924 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Longwood.
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.
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.