by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Murray State College: 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.
At Murray State College specifically, 78% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $5,679 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,165, equal to roughly 93.9% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Murray State College, 60% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $6,276 in federal loans per year. This works out to 21.5% above the $5,165 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,552 in two years and roughly $25,104 across a four-year program. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 60% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,276 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 907 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,691,936 |
The middle borrower at Murray State College owes $8,886 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,886 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $13,387 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,750 |
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 Murray State College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,249 |
| 25th percentile | $4,400 |
| 75th percentile | $16,275 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $28,786 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Murray State College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Murray State College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 65 | $9,031 |
| Completed (graduates) | 29 | $10,331 |
| Did not complete | 36 | $8,056 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $122.85/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 Murray State College.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 38 | $8,056 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 27 | $11,783 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Murray State College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Murray State College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 22.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 704 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $8,291 |
| High income | $8,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,058 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,829 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,000 |
| Independent students | $11,251 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Murray State College.
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.
Worth Knowing
Declaring bankruptcy does not erase federal student loan debt. If you stop paying, the federal government can garnish a portion of your wages until the loans are repaid.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.