by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend St. John Fisher University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Fisher, 73% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $11,325 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,295, which is 96.3% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Fisher, 68% take out federal student loans, averaging $6,476 in federal loans per year. That is 22.3% larger than the $5,295 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,952 in two years and roughly $25,904 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 68% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,476 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,756 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $11,372,598 |
The median student at Fisher borrows $19,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,364 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Fisher.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $11,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Fisher.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Fisher.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 667 | $34,895 |
| Completed (graduates) | 517 | $37,716 |
| Did not complete | 150 | $27,022 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $448.48/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Fisher.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 629 | $36,126 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 38 | $18,697 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Fisher.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Fisher appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1137 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $21,000 |
| Middle income | $20,000 |
| High income | $19,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,660 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $23,356 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Fisher.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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.
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.