by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Old Dominion 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.
Looking at the entering class at Old Dominion, 49% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $7,268 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,251, representing 95.5% 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 Old Dominion, 41% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $6,778 annually. This works out to 29.1% above the $5,251 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,556 in two years and roughly $27,112 over four years. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 41% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,778 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 7,193 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $48,752,753 |
The middle borrower at Old Dominion owes $16,300 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,300 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $24,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,621 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Old Dominion.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $26,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,165 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Old Dominion.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Old Dominion.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 3083 | $16,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1468 | $18,866 |
| Did not complete | 1615 | $15,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $224.34/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 Old Dominion.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 3047 | $16,000 |
| No Stafford loan | 36 | $19,519 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2638 | $16,234 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 445 | $15,000 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Old Dominion.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Old Dominion is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4404 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $17,610 |
| Middle income | $16,542 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,525 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $18,750 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Old Dominion.
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.
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.