by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Michigan State 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.
At Michigan State specifically, 37% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $8,981 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,229, amounting to 95.1% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at Michigan State (freshmen included), 34% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $6,308 in federal loans per year. That is 20.6% higher than the $5,229 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,616 over two years and about $25,232 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 34% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,308 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 13,613 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $85,871,543 |
The middle borrower at Michigan State owes $19,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,000 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Michigan State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,250 |
| 25th percentile | $10,750 |
| 75th percentile | $30,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,960 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Michigan State.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Michigan State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 5199 | $33,521 |
| Completed (graduates) | 4089 | $37,401 |
| Did not complete | 1110 | $23,189 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $444.74/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Michigan State.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 5076 | $33,834 |
| No Stafford loan | 123 | $25,023 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 4768 | $34,868 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 431 | $23,000 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Michigan State.
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 Michigan State follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 7816 |
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 | $16,266 |
| Middle income | $21,250 |
| High income | $20,250 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,606 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $19,116 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Michigan State.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
Worth Knowing
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.