by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Northeastern University Oakland, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Among first-year students at Mills, 52% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, at roughly $9,137 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,125, which is 75.0% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at Mills, 48% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $4,199 in federal loans per year. That amounts to 1.8% above the freshman federal average of $4,125.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $8,398 after two years and $16,796 across a four-year program. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 48% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,199 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 262 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,100,136 |
The middle borrower at Mills owes $22,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $22,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $24,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $13,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Mills.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,757 |
| 25th percentile | $14,500 |
| 75th percentile | $31,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Mills.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Mills.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1953 | $28,442 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1092 | $34,984 |
| Did not complete | 861 | $21,110 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $416.0/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Mills.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1922 | $28,401 |
| No Stafford loan | 31 | $34,761 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1475 | $29,558 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 478 | $25,562 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Mills.
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 Mills is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4550 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $21,950 |
| Middle income | $22,601 |
| High income | $21,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $21,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $22,249 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $21,500 |
| Independent students | $23,791 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Mills.
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.