by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Messiah University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at Messiah, 67% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $9,563 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $6,019. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at Messiah (freshmen included), 59% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $9,027 per year. This is 50.0% greater than the $6,019 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $18,054 in two years and roughly $36,108 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 59% |
| Average federal loan per year | $9,027 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,400 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $12,637,249 |
The median student at Messiah borrows $21,911 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $21,911 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,621 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,724 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Messiah.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $11,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Messiah.
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 Messiah.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 349 | $26,800 |
| Completed (graduates) | 242 | $37,908 |
| Did not complete | 107 | $17,296 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $450.77/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Messiah.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 304 | $30,036 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 45 | $15,492 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Messiah.
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 Messiah follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 720 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $21,946 |
| Middle income | $23,084 |
| High income | $21,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $22,585 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $22,037 |
| Independent students | $17,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Messiah.
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.
Important to Remember
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.