by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Ohio Christian 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 OCU, 75% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $7,942 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $6,324. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at OCU (freshmen included), 70% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $7,920 a year. That is 25.2% greater than the $6,324 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $15,840 in two years and roughly $31,680 by the fourth year. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 70% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,920 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 568 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,498,644 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at OCU carry a median federal debt of $21,250 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $21,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $29,579 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,243 |
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 OCU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $4,750 |
| 75th percentile | $26,420 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $40,250 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at OCU.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at OCU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 211 | $9,755 |
| Completed (graduates) | 96 | $9,943 |
| Did not complete | 115 | $9,750 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $118.23/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 OCU.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 189 | $9,755 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 22 | $8,810 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at OCU.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for OCU is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 479 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $21,698 |
| Middle income | $20,000 |
| High income | $21,536 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $21,996 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,410 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,750 |
| Independent students | $24,160 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for OCU.
The Difference Between 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.
Did You Know?
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.