by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Ross Medical Education Center - Lafayette— 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.
Looking at the entering class at Ross - Lafayette, 67% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $8,790 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $7,118. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Counting every undergraduate at Ross - Lafayette, 56% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $7,328 per year. This is 3.0% greater than the $7,118 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $14,656 over two years and about $29,312 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 56% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,328 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 89 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $652,174 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Ross - Lafayette carry a median federal debt of $9,389 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,389 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,750 |
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 Ross - Lafayette.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $9,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $9,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Ross - Lafayette.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Ross - Lafayette.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 39 | $6,200 |
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 Ross - Lafayette.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 29 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 10 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Ross - Lafayette.
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 Ross - Lafayette is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 222 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $7,908 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,460 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Ross - Lafayette.
The Difference Between 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?
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.