by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Massachusetts Maritime Academy: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Maritime specifically, 88% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $10,251 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,510. This reaches or tops the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap for a typical dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at Maritime, 81% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $6,956 each per year. That amounts to 26.2% greater than the $5,510 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,912 across two years and $27,824 over four years. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 81% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,956 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,026 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,136,907 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Maritime carry a median federal debt of $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 | $8,200 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Maritime.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $10,243 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $30,104 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Maritime.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Maritime.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 162 | $29,671 |
| Completed (graduates) | 125 | $38,678 |
| Did not complete | 37 | $16,868 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $459.92/mo.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Maritime.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Maritime is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 222 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,540 |
| Middle income | $20,123 |
| High income | $21,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $20,500 |
| Independent students | $23,914 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Maritime.
The Difference Between 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.
Important to Remember
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.