by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Maine Maritime Academy— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Maine Maritime, 66% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $17,486 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,371, or about 97.7% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Maine Maritime, 58% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $6,680 each per year. This works out to 24.4% higher than the freshman federal average of $5,371.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,360 over two years and about $26,720 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 | 58% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,680 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 517 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,453,343 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Maine Maritime carry a median federal debt of $26,812 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $26,812 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| 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 Maine Maritime.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,750 |
| 75th percentile | $28,253 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,074 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Maine Maritime.
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 Maine Maritime.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 156 | $40,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 90 | $55,812 |
| Did not complete | 66 | $23,695 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $663.66/mo.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Maine Maritime.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Maine Maritime appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 273 |
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 | $24,575 |
| Middle income | $27,000 |
| High income | $26,584 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $26,900 |
| Continuing-generation students | $26,220 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $26,595 |
| Independent students | $32,235 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Maine Maritime.
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?
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.