by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Mary Baldwin University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Mary Baldwin, 63% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $5,667 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,205, representing 94.6% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year 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.
Counting every undergraduate at Mary Baldwin, 71% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $6,428 a year. This is 23.5% higher than the freshman federal average of $5,205.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,856 after two years and $25,712 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 71% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,428 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 810 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,206,419 |
The median student at Mary Baldwin borrows $12,250 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,586 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Mary Baldwin.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,683 |
| 25th percentile | $7,781 |
| 75th percentile | $29,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $41,442 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Mary Baldwin.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Mary Baldwin.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 331 | $13,072 |
| Completed (graduates) | 127 | $16,376 |
| Did not complete | 204 | $10,982 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $194.73/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 Mary Baldwin.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 303 | $13,200 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 28 | $11,447 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Mary Baldwin.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Mary Baldwin is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 532 |
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 | $12,950 |
| Middle income | $12,000 |
| High income | $12,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,100 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,875 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $10,250 |
| Independent students | $19,300 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Mary Baldwin.
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.
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.