by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend McNeese State University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at McNeese, 37% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, with a typical loan of $5,098 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $4,742, representing 86.2% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at McNeese, 37% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $6,577 annually. This works out to 38.7% more than the $4,742 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,154 in two years and roughly $26,308 by the fourth year. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 37% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,577 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,784 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $11,734,037 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at McNeese carry a median federal debt of $13,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for McNeese.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,168 |
| 75th percentile | $23,588 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,358 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at McNeese.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at McNeese.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 250 | $10,108 |
| Completed (graduates) | 101 | $13,410 |
| Did not complete | 149 | $9,606 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $159.46/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at McNeese.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 216 | $10,463 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 34 | $7,375 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. McNeese.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for McNeese is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1661 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,450 |
| Middle income | $13,829 |
| High income | $11,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,858 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,750 |
| Independent students | $19,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for McNeese.
The Difference Between 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
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.