by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend McDaniel College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at McDaniel, 74% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, borrowing on average $7,123 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,222, which is 94.9% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
For undergraduates overall at McDaniel, 59% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $6,250 each per year. This works out to 19.7% above the $5,222 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,500 in two years and roughly $25,000 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 59% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,250 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 972 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,074,616 |
The middle borrower at McDaniel owes $15,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 McDaniel.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,347 |
| 25th percentile | $9,500 |
| 75th percentile | $28,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,485 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at McDaniel.
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 McDaniel.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 556 | $23,586 |
| Completed (graduates) | 285 | $31,791 |
| Did not complete | 271 | $17,461 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $378.03/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 McDaniel.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 327 | $24,763 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 229 | $21,159 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for McDaniel.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for McDaniel is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 499 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,250 |
| Middle income | $15,819 |
| High income | $16,250 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,450 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $16,683 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at McDaniel.
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.
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.