by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Macalester College— 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.
At Macalester, 33% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $6,971 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $4,928, equal to roughly 89.6% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Looking at all undergraduates at Macalester, freshmen included, 36% take out federal student loans, for a typical $6,043 per year. That amounts to 22.6% above the freshman federal average of $4,928.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,086 across two years and $24,172 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 | 36% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,043 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 762 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,604,469 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Macalester carry a median federal debt of $19,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Macalester.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $11,979 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $30,372 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Macalester.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Macalester.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 55 | $36,129 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Macalester.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Macalester appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 310 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,912 |
| Middle income | $19,000 |
| High income | $19,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Macalester.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.