by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Mercy College of Ohio— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Mercy College, 24% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $4,813 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
Federal loans alone average $4,813, representing 87.5% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Mercy College, 47% take out federal student loans, at an average of $7,617 annually. That is 58.3% above the freshman federal average of $4,813.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $15,234 over two years and about $30,468 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 | 47% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,617 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 441 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,359,133 |
The median student at Mercy College borrows $15,084 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,084 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,834 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,875 |
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 Mercy College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $26,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Mercy College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Mercy College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 153 | $14,917 |
| Completed (graduates) | 89 | $16,824 |
| Did not complete | 64 | $12,496 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $200.06/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 Mercy College.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 140 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 13 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Mercy College.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Mercy College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 344 |
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 | $14,332 |
| Middle income | $14,000 |
| High income | $16,664 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,757 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,762 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,789 |
| Independent students | $15,750 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Mercy College.
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.
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.