by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Pennsylvania State University-World Campus— 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 Penn State World Campus, 53% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $6,488 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,307, which is 96.5% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the 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.
For undergraduates overall at Penn State World Campus, 43% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $8,014 per year. That amounts to 51.0% larger than the first-year federal average of $5,307.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $16,028 by year two and around $32,056 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 43% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,014 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 3,270 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $26,205,428 |
The middle borrower at Penn State World Campus owes $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 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Penn State World Campus.
| 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 spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Penn State World Campus.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Penn State World Campus.
| 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 World Campus.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 10366 | $30,879 |
| No Stafford loan | 269 | $28,424 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| 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 World Campus.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Penn State World Campus follows.
| 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-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
By Dependency Status
| 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 World Campus.
Subsidized and 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.