by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Northeastern Illinois 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.
For incoming students at Northeastern Illinois University, 14% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, averaging $5,776 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,512. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for 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.
For undergraduates overall at Northeastern Illinois University, 20% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $7,239 per year. That is 31.3% higher than the $5,512 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $14,478 over two years and about $28,956 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 20% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,239 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 774 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,602,839 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Northeastern Illinois University carry a median federal debt of $11,969 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $11,969 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $14,600 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Northeastern Illinois University.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,675 |
| 25th percentile | $4,750 |
| 75th percentile | $19,743 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Northeastern Illinois University.
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 Northeastern Illinois University.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 632 | $13,895 |
| Completed (graduates) | 302 | $13,578 |
| Did not complete | 330 | $14,200 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $161.46/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Northeastern Illinois University.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 620 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 12 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 375 | $12,718 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 257 | $15,814 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Northeastern Illinois University.
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 Northeastern Illinois University follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1454 |
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 | $11,754 |
| Middle income | $11,875 |
| High income | $12,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $11,543 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $9,989 |
| Independent students | $13,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Northeastern Illinois University.
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.
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.