by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Oklahoma Panhandle State University: 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 OPSU specifically, 82% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $5,648 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $5,253, representing 95.5% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at OPSU, 67% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $6,627 per year. It comes to 26.2% higher than the first-year federal average of $5,253.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,254 after two years and $26,508 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 67% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,627 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 681 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,512,661 |
The median student at OPSU borrows $7,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 OPSU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $4,750 |
| 75th percentile | $18,322 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at OPSU.
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 OPSU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 126 | $8,124 |
| Completed (graduates) | 48 | $8,178 |
| Did not complete | 78 | $8,124 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $97.25/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at OPSU.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 92 | $7,145 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 34 | $12,014 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for OPSU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for OPSU is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 331 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $5,500 |
| Middle income | $7,500 |
| High income | $10,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $7,500 |
| Independent students | $7,442 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for OPSU.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
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.