by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Wilkes-Barre— 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.
At Penn State Wilkes - Barre, 56% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $8,195 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,143, or about 93.5% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
For undergraduates overall at Penn State Wilkes - Barre, 56% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $6,121 per year. It comes to 19.0% larger than the $5,143 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,242 by year two and around $24,484 over four years. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 56% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,121 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 189 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,156,953 |
The middle borrower at Penn State Wilkes - Barre owes $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 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Wilkes - Barre.
| 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 Wilkes - Barre.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Penn State Wilkes - Barre.
| 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.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Penn State Wilkes - Barre.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| 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 Wilkes - Barre.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Penn State Wilkes - Barre 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.
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 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| 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 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Penn State Wilkes - Barre.
Subsidized vs. 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?
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.