by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Northeastern State 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.
At NSU specifically, 41% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $5,619 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,255, or about 95.5% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at NSU, 39% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $6,973 a year. That is 32.7% higher than the $5,255 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,946 by year two and around $27,892 across a four-year program. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 39% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,973 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,793 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $12,502,108 |
The middle borrower at NSU owes $12,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $17,367 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for NSU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $22,609 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,304 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at NSU.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at NSU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 668 | $9,964 |
| Completed (graduates) | 331 | $11,366 |
| Did not complete | 337 | $9,300 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $135.15/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 NSU.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 653 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 15 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 546 | $9,300 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 122 | $13,913 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. NSU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for NSU is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 12.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2388 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,275 |
| Middle income | $11,748 |
| High income | $12,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,038 |
| Continuing-generation students | $11,806 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $10,517 |
| Independent students | $13,750 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at NSU.
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.
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.