by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Northern Arizona 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 NAU, 41% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, at roughly $7,064 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,425, or about 98.6% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Looking at all undergraduates at NAU, freshmen included, 32% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $6,672 in federal loans per year. It comes to 23.0% greater than the $5,425 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,344 by year two and around $26,688 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 32% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,672 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 7,304 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $48,732,320 |
The middle borrower at NAU owes $12,916 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,916 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for NAU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,225 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $23,726 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at NAU.
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 NAU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 4037 | $20,500 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2382 | $23,489 |
| Did not complete | 1655 | $18,000 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $279.31/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 NAU.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 3822 | $20,644 |
| No Stafford loan | 215 | $19,083 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 3588 | $21,508 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 449 | $15,687 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. NAU.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for NAU follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5513 |
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 | $12,500 |
| Middle income | $12,500 |
| High income | $13,533 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,582 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,875 |
| Independent students | $12,990 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at NAU.
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.