by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Ridgewater College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Ridgewater College, 30% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $5,719 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,182, equal to roughly 94.2% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at Ridgewater College, freshmen included, 35% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $6,130 a year. That is 18.3% greater than the $5,182 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,260 across two years and $24,520 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 | 35% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,130 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 721 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,419,808 |
The middle borrower at Ridgewater College owes $9,196 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,196 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,500 |
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 Ridgewater College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,497 |
| 25th percentile | $4,500 |
| 75th percentile | $14,479 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $23,898 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Ridgewater College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Ridgewater College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 112 | $10,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 42 | $10,928 |
| Did not complete | 70 | $8,550 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $129.95/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Ridgewater College.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 75 | $9,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 37 | $11,975 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Ridgewater College.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Ridgewater College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1420 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $9,218 |
| High income | $8,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,463 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,779 |
| Independent students | $10,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Ridgewater College.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
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.