by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Ripon 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.
At Ripon, 76% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $7,814 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $4,959, or about 90.2% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Looking at all undergraduates at Ripon, freshmen included, 72% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $6,414 each per year. That is 29.3% larger than the $4,959 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,828 over two years and about $25,656 by the fourth year. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 72% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,414 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 516 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,309,690 |
The median student at Ripon borrows $19,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,000 |
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 Ripon.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $9,500 |
| 75th percentile | $29,200 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,787 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Ripon.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Ripon.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 75 | $18,586 |
| Completed (graduates) | 40 | $28,995 |
| Did not complete | 35 | $11,436 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $344.78/mo.
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Ripon.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Ripon is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 251 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $17,621 |
| Middle income | $18,625 |
| High income | $19,750 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,920 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,473 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Ripon.
Subsidized vs. 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?
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.