by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Providence College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Providence, 63% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $11,342 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,370, which is 97.6% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Providence, 57% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $6,475 each per year. This is 20.6% greater than the first-year federal average of $5,370.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,950 across two years and $25,900 by the fourth year. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 57% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,475 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,391 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $15,481,695 |
The middle borrower at Providence owes $27,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $27,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $14,830 |
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 Providence.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $6,500 |
| 25th percentile | $15,837 |
| 75th percentile | $30,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Providence.
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 Providence.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 415 | $37,572 |
| Completed (graduates) | 299 | $46,300 |
| Did not complete | 116 | $27,343 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $550.56/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 Providence.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 340 | $45,611 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 75 | $22,368 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Providence.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Providence is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 800 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $25,943 |
| Middle income | $27,000 |
| High income | $27,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $27,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $27,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $27,000 |
| Independent students | $12,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Providence.
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.
Did You Know?
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.