by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for North Carolina State University at Raleigh: 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 NC State specifically, 40% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $7,922 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,064, representing 92.1% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Counting every undergraduate at NC State, 35% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $5,952 annually. This is 17.5% more than the $5,064 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $11,904 by year two and around $23,808 by the fourth year. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 35% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,952 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 9,117 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $54,260,336 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at NC State carry a median federal debt of $17,320 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,320 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,121 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,250 |
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 NC State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,703 |
| 25th percentile | $8,750 |
| 75th percentile | $26,786 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at NC State.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at NC State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2321 | $20,609 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1551 | $23,000 |
| Did not complete | 770 | $18,366 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $273.49/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 NC State.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2278 | $20,713 |
| No Stafford loan | 43 | $14,965 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1727 | $20,693 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 594 | $20,261 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for NC 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 official Department of Education two-year default rate for NC State follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4220 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,281 |
| Middle income | $17,500 |
| High income | $18,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,135 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,500 |
| Independent students | $16,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at NC State.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
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.