by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Missouri State University-West Plains— 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.
Among first-year students at Missouri State West Plains, 19% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $4,227 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $3,990, amounting to 72.5% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. 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 Missouri State West Plains, 17% borrow through federal student loan programs, borrowing on average $5,009 a year. That is 25.5% higher than the $3,990 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $10,018 after two years and $20,036 over a four-year span. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 17% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,009 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 147 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $736,320 |
The middle borrower at Missouri State West Plains owes $5,750 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Missouri State West Plains.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $11,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $22,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Missouri State West Plains.
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 State West Plains.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 49 | $8,818 |
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Missouri State West Plains.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 13 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 36 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Missouri State West Plains.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Missouri State West Plains appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 16.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 514 |
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 | $6,201 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,125 |
| Continuing-generation students | $4,455 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $8,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Missouri State West Plains.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Worth Knowing
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.