by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend University of Holy Cross— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at UHC, 58% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $7,535 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,722. This reaches or tops the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap for a typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at UHC (freshmen included), 61% borrow through federal student loan programs, borrowing on average $7,453 per year. This is 30.3% more than the $5,722 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $14,906 in two years and roughly $29,812 after four. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 61% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,453 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 255 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,900,498 |
The median student at UHC borrows $19,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,995 |
| Students who withdrew | $13,500 |
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 UHC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $6,250 |
| 75th percentile | $28,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $42,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at UHC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at UHC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 161 | $11,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 57 | $12,000 |
| Did not complete | 104 | $10,717 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $142.69/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at UHC.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 120 | $10,973 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 41 | $13,300 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for UHC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for UHC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 434 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $20,099 |
| Middle income | $18,750 |
| High income | $19,301 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $18,969 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,375 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,500 |
| Independent students | $21,354 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at UHC.
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.
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.