by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Randolph College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Randolph, 61% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $6,949 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,096, representing 92.7% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Randolph, 70% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $6,673 a year. That is 30.9% above the first-year federal average of $5,096.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,346 by year two and around $26,692 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 | 70% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,673 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 363 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,422,144 |
The median student at Randolph borrows $17,455 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,455 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,950 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Randolph.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,750 |
| 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 Randolph.
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 Randolph.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 127 | $23,589 |
| Completed (graduates) | 78 | $32,499 |
| Did not complete | 49 | $18,100 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $386.45/mo.
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Randolph.
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 Randolph follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 150 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $14,979 |
| Middle income | $18,767 |
| High income | $17,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,625 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,445 |
| Independent students | $18,125 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Randolph.
The Difference Between 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.
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.