by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Missouri Southern State University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Missouri Southern, 45% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $5,284 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $4,466, equal to roughly 81.2% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at Missouri Southern, freshmen included, 42% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $6,075 per year. That is 36.0% above the $4,466 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,150 after two years and $24,300 by the fourth year. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 42% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,075 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,307 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,939,605 |
The middle borrower at Missouri Southern owes $11,650 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $11,650 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,174 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,000 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Missouri Southern.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,625 |
| 25th percentile | $4,500 |
| 75th percentile | $21,620 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,304 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Missouri Southern.
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 Missouri Southern.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 248 | $8,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 101 | $10,400 |
| Did not complete | 147 | $6,700 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $123.67/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Missouri Southern.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 207 | $7,715 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 41 | $8,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Missouri Southern.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Missouri Southern follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1453 |
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 | $11,000 |
| Middle income | $12,070 |
| High income | $12,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $11,895 |
| Continuing-generation students | $11,112 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $10,750 |
| Independent students | $14,750 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Missouri Southern.
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?
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.