by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Morgan State University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Morgan State, 72% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $7,265 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,628. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Morgan State, 65% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $6,460 each per year. This works out to 14.8% higher than the freshman federal average of $5,628.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,920 across two years and $25,840 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 65% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,460 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 5,428 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $35,065,537 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Morgan State carry a median federal debt of $19,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Morgan State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $9,750 |
| 75th percentile | $34,389 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $47,523 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Morgan State.
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 Morgan State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1570 | $19,127 |
| Completed (graduates) | 700 | $22,000 |
| Did not complete | 870 | $17,502 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $261.6/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 Morgan State.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1533 | $19,175 |
| No Stafford loan | 37 | $17,000 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1450 | $19,561 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 120 | $15,163 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Morgan State.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Morgan State follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 18.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1918 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $20,578 |
| Middle income | $19,000 |
| High income | $17,682 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,150 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,500 |
| Independent students | $23,790 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Morgan State.
Subsidized vs. 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.