by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Murray State 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.
Among first-year students at Murray State, 45% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $8,392 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $6,909. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at Murray State (freshmen included), 42% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $8,077 in federal loans per year. This works out to 16.9% larger than the first-year federal average of $6,909.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $16,154 after two years and $32,308 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 42% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,077 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,785 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $22,494,638 |
The middle borrower at Murray State owes $15,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Murray State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,497 |
| 25th percentile | $6,000 |
| 75th percentile | $26,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,735 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Murray State.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Murray State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 805 | $15,066 |
| Completed (graduates) | 461 | $18,465 |
| Did not complete | 344 | $12,743 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $219.57/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.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 790 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 15 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 716 | $15,215 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 89 | $11,275 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Murray State.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Murray State is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2030 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,708 |
| Middle income | $14,250 |
| High income | $15,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,363 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,250 |
| Independent students | $17,236 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Murray State.
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.
Did You Know?
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.