by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Lehigh Valley— 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.
Looking at the entering class at Penn State Lehigh Valley, 44% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $6,498 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,683, amounting to 85.1% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at Penn State Lehigh Valley, freshmen included, 46% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $5,852 a year. It comes to 25.0% greater than the $4,683 borrowed by freshmen.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $11,704 by year two and around $23,408 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 46% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,852 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 412 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,411,212 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Penn State Lehigh Valley carry a median federal debt of $19,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Penn State Lehigh Valley.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $8,750 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Penn State Lehigh Valley.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Penn State Lehigh Valley.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 10635 | $30,836 |
| Completed (graduates) | 7092 | $38,368 |
| Did not complete | 3543 | $22,106 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $456.24/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 Penn State Lehigh Valley.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 10366 | $30,879 |
| No Stafford loan | 269 | $28,424 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 9122 | $33,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 1513 | $22,000 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Penn State Lehigh Valley.
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 Penn State Lehigh Valley is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 17856 |
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 | $19,000 |
| Middle income | $20,000 |
| High income | $19,700 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $19,486 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Penn State Lehigh Valley.
Subsidized vs. 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.
Did You Know?
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.