by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Nebraska Wesleyan 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 NWU specifically, 52% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $7,436 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,152, equal to roughly 93.7% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
For undergraduates overall at NWU, 55% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $6,541 each per year. That is 27.0% larger than the $5,152 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,082 in two years and roughly $26,164 after four. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 55% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,541 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 832 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,441,771 |
The median student at NWU borrows $17,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,970 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,000 |
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 NWU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $6,722 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $30,750 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at NWU.
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 NWU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 316 | $20,547 |
| Completed (graduates) | 158 | $28,640 |
| Did not complete | 158 | $15,307 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $340.56/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at NWU.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 294 | $20,843 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 22 | $8,850 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for NWU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for NWU appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 533 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $17,750 |
| Middle income | $16,516 |
| High income | $17,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,040 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,051 |
| Independent students | $17,982 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at NWU.
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.