by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Robert Morris University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At RMU, 62% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $9,358 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,515. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at RMU (freshmen included), 54% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $6,387 annually. This is 15.8% more than the freshman federal average of $5,515.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,774 after two years and $25,548 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 54% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,387 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,559 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $9,957,914 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at RMU carry a median federal debt of $23,250 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $23,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,950 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,000 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at RMU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,250 |
| 25th percentile | $9,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at RMU.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at RMU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 840 | $31,866 |
| Completed (graduates) | 538 | $38,989 |
| Did not complete | 302 | $22,435 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $463.62/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at RMU.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 826 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 752 | $34,675 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 88 | $17,068 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at RMU.
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 RMU follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1418 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $23,189 |
| Middle income | $23,250 |
| High income | $23,250 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $23,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $23,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $23,250 |
| Independent students | $21,686 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for RMU.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.