by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Monmouth University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Monmouth, 64% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $12,571 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,273, or about 95.9% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Monmouth, 61% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $6,808 a year. This is 29.1% more than the first-year federal average of $5,273.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,616 by year two and around $27,232 over four years. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 61% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,808 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,333 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $15,883,166 |
The median student at Monmouth borrows $23,250 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $23,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,332 |
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 Monmouth.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $8,750 |
| 75th percentile | $27,600 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,063 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Monmouth.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Monmouth.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 830 | $40,939 |
| Completed (graduates) | 640 | $49,390 |
| Did not complete | 190 | $26,947 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $587.3/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at Monmouth.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 816 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 771 | $42,120 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 59 | $20,756 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Monmouth.
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 Monmouth follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1569 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $26,000 |
| Middle income | $24,500 |
| High income | $22,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $23,291 |
| Continuing-generation students | $23,250 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $23,250 |
| Independent students | $27,266 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Monmouth.
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.
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.