by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Saint Augustine’s 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.
Looking at the entering class at SAU, 55% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $4,387 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,387, equal to roughly 79.8% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Looking at all undergraduates at SAU, freshmen included, 45% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $5,789 a year. That amounts to 32.0% more than the first-year federal average of $4,387.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $11,578 in two years and roughly $23,156 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 45% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,789 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 345 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,997,095 |
The median student at SAU borrows $12,750 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $29,669 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for SAU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $8,250 |
| 75th percentile | $34,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $47,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at SAU.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at SAU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 276 | $15,252 |
| Completed (graduates) | 49 | $17,000 |
| Did not complete | 227 | $15,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $202.15/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 SAU.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 261 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 15 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for SAU.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for SAU follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 29.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 595 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,000 |
| Middle income | $12,000 |
| High income | $12,625 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,250 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,250 |
| Independent students | $14,250 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at SAU.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Important to Remember
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.