by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Ohio Wesleyan University— 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.
At OWU, 65% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, for an average of $7,506 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,302, which is 96.4% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
For undergraduates overall at OWU, 62% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $6,259 in federal loans per year. That is 18.0% higher than the $5,302 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,518 after two years and $25,036 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 62% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,259 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 901 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,638,988 |
The median student at OWU borrows $21,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $21,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for OWU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $40,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at OWU.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at OWU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 218 | $27,604 |
| Completed (graduates) | 128 | $36,553 |
| Did not complete | 90 | $15,668 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $434.65/mo.
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. OWU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for OWU is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 369 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $21,000 |
| Middle income | $21,500 |
| High income | $21,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $23,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,875 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at OWU.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.