by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Oberlin College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Oberlin, 30% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, for an average of $4,787 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $4,801, which is 87.3% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at Oberlin, freshmen included, 31% take out federal student loans, borrowing on average $6,158 in federal loans per year. That is 28.3% more than the $4,801 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,316 over two years and about $24,632 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 31% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,158 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 920 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,664,990 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Oberlin carry a median federal debt of $19,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,000 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Oberlin.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,000 |
| 75th percentile | $29,431 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $36,038 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Oberlin.
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 Oberlin.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 139 | $40,050 |
| Completed (graduates) | 87 | $45,976 |
| Did not complete | 52 | $34,750 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $546.7/mo.
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Oberlin.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Oberlin appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 444 |
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 | $14,878 |
| Middle income | $21,265 |
| High income | $19,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,325 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Oberlin.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.