by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Purdue University Northwest— 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 Purdue Northwest, 31% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $5,226 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $4,779, which is 86.9% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
For undergraduates overall at Purdue Northwest, 35% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $6,042 per year. It comes to 26.4% above the $4,779 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,084 in two years and roughly $24,168 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 35% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,042 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,998 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $12,071,908 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Purdue Northwest carry a median federal debt of $13,031 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,031 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,229 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,002 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Purdue Northwest.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,250 |
| 25th percentile | $5,864 |
| 75th percentile | $25,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $37,716 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Purdue Northwest.
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 Purdue Northwest.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 835 | $13,484 |
| Completed (graduates) | 354 | $14,984 |
| Did not complete | 481 | $12,535 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $178.18/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Purdue Northwest.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 804 | $13,699 |
| No Stafford loan | 31 | $11,435 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 664 | $12,750 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 171 | $16,010 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Purdue Northwest.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Purdue Northwest is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1975 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $13,767 |
| Middle income | $12,765 |
| High income | $13,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,087 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $16,525 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Purdue Northwest.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.