by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Northland College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Northland specifically, 57% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $8,738 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federal loan is $5,449, amounting to 99.1% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Northland, 64% take out federal student loans, averaging $6,567 a year. It comes to 20.5% above the $5,449 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,134 across two years and $26,268 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 | 64% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,567 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 292 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,917,490 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Northland carry a median federal debt of $15,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,450 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Northland.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $6,800 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Northland.
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 Northland.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 74 | $21,220 |
| Completed (graduates) | 35 | $29,096 |
| Did not complete | 39 | $17,927 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $345.98/mo.
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Northland.
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 Northland follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 204 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $15,000 |
| Middle income | $14,000 |
| High income | $18,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,007 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $21,221 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Northland.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
Important to Remember
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.