by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Oregon State University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Oregon State specifically, 36% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $7,574 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,009, equal to roughly 91.1% 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.
Across the full undergraduate body at Oregon State (freshmen included), 33% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $6,848 a year. This works out to 36.7% above the freshman federal average of $5,009.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,696 by year two and around $27,392 by the fourth year. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 33% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,848 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 9,770 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $66,908,778 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Oregon State carry a median federal debt of $15,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,221 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
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 Oregon State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,668 |
| 25th percentile | $7,334 |
| 75th percentile | $26,873 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,661 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Oregon State.
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 Oregon State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 3487 | $23,003 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1598 | $28,923 |
| Did not complete | 1889 | $20,027 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $343.93/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Oregon State.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 3384 | $23,062 |
| No Stafford loan | 103 | $21,527 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2536 | $24,804 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 951 | $19,390 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Oregon State.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Oregon State appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3975 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,000 |
| Middle income | $15,125 |
| High income | $14,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,250 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $15,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Oregon State.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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.