by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Mont Alto, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Penn State Mont Alto, 55% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, with a typical loan of $9,059 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,124, equal to roughly 93.2% 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.
For undergraduates overall at Penn State Mont Alto, 54% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $6,357 a year. That amounts to 24.1% greater than the $5,124 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,714 after two years and $25,428 by the fourth year. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 54% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,357 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 298 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,894,358 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Penn State Mont Alto carry a median federal debt of $19,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Penn State Mont Alto.
| 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 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Penn State Mont Alto.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Penn State Mont Alto.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 10635 | $30,836 |
| Completed (graduates) | 7092 | $38,368 |
| Did not complete | 3543 | $22,106 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $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 Mont Alto.
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 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Penn State Mont Alto.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Penn State Mont Alto follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 17856 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,000 |
| Middle income | $20,000 |
| High income | $19,700 |
By First-Generation Status
| 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 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Penn State Mont Alto.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
Worth Knowing
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.