by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Northwestern College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at NWC, 68% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $7,729 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $4,970, equal to roughly 90.4% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at NWC, freshmen included, 57% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $6,056 each per year. It comes to 21.9% greater than the $4,970 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,112 over two years and about $24,224 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 57% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,056 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 652 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,948,592 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at NWC carry a median federal debt of $16,791 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,791 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,249 |
| 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 NWC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $8,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,250 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at NWC.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for NWC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 187 | $16,688 |
| Completed (graduates) | 81 | $18,000 |
| Did not complete | 106 | $16,083 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $214.04/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at NWC.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 139 | $16,200 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 48 | $18,665 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. NWC.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for NWC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 366 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,453 |
| Middle income | $15,060 |
| High income | $19,875 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,849 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,886 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,688 |
| Independent students | $6,302 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at NWC.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Worth Knowing
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.