by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend New York University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at NYU, 18% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, borrowing on average $11,177 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $4,961, which is 90.2% 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 NYU, 19% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $6,423 annually. That amounts to 29.5% larger than the $4,961 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,846 after two years and $25,692 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 19% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,423 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 5,673 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $36,435,057 |
The median student at NYU borrows $18,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $18,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,000 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 NYU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $11,000 |
| 75th percentile | $29,450 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,950 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at NYU.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at NYU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 5433 | $59,494 |
| Completed (graduates) | 3742 | $64,795 |
| Did not complete | 1691 | $50,250 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $770.48/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 NYU.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 5164 | $59,175 |
| No Stafford loan | 269 | $65,510 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 4732 | $63,096 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 701 | $35,720 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. NYU.
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 NYU appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 9015 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,389 |
| Middle income | $19,500 |
| High income | $17,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $18,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,250 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,515 |
| Independent students | $21,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at NYU.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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.
Important to Remember
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.