by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Mount Mercy 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.
At Mount Mercy specifically, 59% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $8,020 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $5,287, amounting to 96.1% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Mount Mercy, 57% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $8,480 in federal loans per year. This is 60.4% greater than the $5,287 borrowed by freshmen.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $16,960 by year two and around $33,920 over four years. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 57% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,480 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 633 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,367,741 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Mount Mercy carry a median federal debt of $18,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $18,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,699 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Mount Mercy.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,000 |
| 25th percentile | $8,830 |
| 75th percentile | $26,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Mount Mercy.
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 Mount Mercy.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 309 | $17,612 |
| Completed (graduates) | 219 | $19,951 |
| Did not complete | 90 | $12,886 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $237.24/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 Mount Mercy.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 276 | $18,209 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 33 | $12,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Mount Mercy.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Mount Mercy appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 490 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
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 | $18,750 |
| Middle income | $17,500 |
| High income | $18,750 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $18,680 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,175 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,454 |
| Independent students | $20,000 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Mount Mercy.
Subsidized vs. 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
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.