by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Northwest Missouri State 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.
Among first-year students at Northwest, 58% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $6,619 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,194, amounting to 94.4% 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 Northwest, 51% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $10,048 annually. This is 93.5% higher than the $5,194 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $20,096 by year two and around $40,192 over four years. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 51% |
| Average federal loan per year | $10,048 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,316 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $23,272,185 |
The median student at Northwest borrows $14,927 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,927 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,850 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Northwest.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,250 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $26,229 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,038 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Northwest.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Northwest.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1429 | $13,777 |
| Completed (graduates) | 840 | $15,803 |
| Did not complete | 589 | $12,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $187.91/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Northwest.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1411 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 18 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1263 | $13,971 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 166 | $12,747 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Northwest.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Northwest is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1563 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $13,000 |
| Middle income | $14,250 |
| High income | $15,875 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $12,219 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Northwest.
Subsidized vs. 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.
Important to Remember
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.