by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Rutgers University-Newark, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Rutgers Newark, 25% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $11,181 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $8,684. 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.
For undergraduates overall at Rutgers Newark, 33% take out federal student loans, at an average of $7,696 a year. This works out to 11.4% lower than the freshman federal average of $8,684.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $15,392 in two years and roughly $30,784 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 33% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,696 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,359 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $18,154,866 |
The middle borrower at Rutgers Newark owes $19,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Rutgers Newark.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,490 |
| 25th percentile | $10,044 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Rutgers Newark.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Rutgers Newark.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 5633 | $23,971 |
| Completed (graduates) | 3890 | $25,294 |
| Did not complete | 1743 | $20,622 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $300.77/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Rutgers Newark.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 5565 | $23,986 |
| No Stafford loan | 68 | $22,439 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 4751 | $23,600 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 882 | $25,935 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Rutgers Newark.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Rutgers Newark is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 10621 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,500 |
| Middle income | $19,500 |
| High income | $18,012 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,750 |
| Independent students | $21,916 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Rutgers Newark.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.