by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Ohio University-Lancaster Campus: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At OHIO Lancaster, 27% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $3,052 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $2,978, which is 54.1% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. 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 OHIO Lancaster, freshmen included, 35% take out federal student loans, averaging $4,370 in federal loans per year. It comes to 46.7% larger than the $2,978 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $8,740 in two years and roughly $17,480 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 35% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,370 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 232 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,013,851 |
The median student at OHIO Lancaster borrows $15,332 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,332 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,056 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at OHIO Lancaster.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $24,806 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,250 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at OHIO Lancaster.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for OHIO Lancaster.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 4390 | $20,697 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2974 | $23,508 |
| Did not complete | 1416 | $16,316 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $279.54/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at OHIO Lancaster.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 4346 | $20,731 |
| No Stafford loan | 44 | $18,000 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 3682 | $22,419 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 708 | $14,276 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at OHIO Lancaster.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for OHIO Lancaster follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 7724 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $13,500 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $16,950 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,928 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,750 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,000 |
| Independent students | $12,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for OHIO Lancaster.
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?
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.