by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Paine College— 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.
For incoming students at Paine College, 86% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $7,016 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federally funded loan is $6,943. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at Paine College, 76% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $7,200 annually. That amounts to 3.7% above the $6,943 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $14,400 across two years and $28,800 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 76% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,200 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 263 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,893,533 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Paine College carry a median federal debt of $11,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $11,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,000 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Paine College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $29,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $45,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Paine College.
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 Paine College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 110 | $7,581 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Paine College.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Paine College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 18.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 296 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $11,000 |
| Middle income | $11,000 |
| High income | $10,750 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $11,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,000 |
| Independent students | $16,559 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Paine College.
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.
Important to Remember
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.