by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At RHSHS, 88% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $8,200 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $6,714. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Counting every undergraduate at RHSHS, 60% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $6,711 annually. It comes to 0.0% lower than the $6,714 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,422 across two years and $26,844 over four years. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 60% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,711 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 162 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,087,257 |
The median student at RHSHS borrows $17,250 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,885 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for RHSHS.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,375 |
| 25th percentile | $6,926 |
| 75th percentile | $16,266 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $18,915 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at RHSHS.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at RHSHS.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 31 | $13,549 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. RHSHS.
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 RHSHS follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 176 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,500 |
| Middle income | $17,220 |
| High income | $17,250 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,163 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,250 |
| Independent students | $19,949 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at RHSHS.
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
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.