by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Saint Ambrose University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At St. Ambrose University, 61% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $9,253 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,408, amounting to 98.3% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a 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.
Looking at all undergraduates at St. Ambrose University, freshmen included, 65% take out federal student loans, at an average of $7,277 in federal loans per year. That is 34.6% above the $5,408 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $14,554 in two years and roughly $29,108 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 | 65% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,277 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,360 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $9,896,803 |
The middle borrower at St. Ambrose University owes $19,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at St. Ambrose University.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $10,743 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,250 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at St. Ambrose University.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for St. Ambrose University.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 455 | $26,186 |
| Completed (graduates) | 296 | $30,948 |
| Did not complete | 159 | $20,931 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $368.0/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at St. Ambrose University.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 426 | $27,736 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 29 | $18,736 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. St. Ambrose University.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for St. Ambrose University is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 919 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $22,487 |
| Middle income | $18,750 |
| High income | $19,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $18,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $20,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $22,089 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for St. Ambrose University.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
Important to Remember
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.