by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Mount St. Mary’s University— 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.
Looking at the entering class at The Mount, 59% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $8,532 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $5,299, equal to roughly 96.3% 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 The Mount, 53% take out federal student loans, borrowing on average $6,489 in federal loans per year. That amounts to 22.5% higher than the $5,299 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,978 after two years and $25,956 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 53% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,489 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 957 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,210,087 |
The median student at The Mount borrows $15,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,391 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at The Mount.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,000 |
| 25th percentile | $7,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at The Mount.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at The Mount.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 375 | $29,733 |
| Completed (graduates) | 229 | $42,721 |
| Did not complete | 146 | $19,438 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $508.0/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at The Mount.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 323 | $32,411 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 52 | $17,635 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at The Mount.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for The Mount follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 431 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $17,845 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,750 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $22,286 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at The Mount.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
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.