by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Metropolitan State University of Denver, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at MSU Denver, 23% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $6,886 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,104, amounting to 92.8% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at MSU Denver, 28% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $7,197 per year. This works out to 41.0% higher than the first-year federal average of $5,104.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $14,394 over two years and about $28,788 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 28% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,197 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,551 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $32,752,574 |
The middle borrower at MSU Denver owes $12,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,005 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 MSU Denver.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $26,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,884 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at MSU Denver.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at MSU Denver.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1906 | $14,192 |
| Completed (graduates) | 672 | $13,743 |
| Did not complete | 1234 | $14,529 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $163.42/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at MSU Denver.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1870 | $14,207 |
| No Stafford loan | 36 | $12,325 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1413 | $14,200 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 493 | $14,154 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at MSU Denver.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for MSU Denver is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5404 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
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 | $13,643 |
| Middle income | $12,551 |
| High income | $11,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $10,250 |
| Independent students | $15,989 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at MSU Denver.
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.