by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Saint Mary’s College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at St. Mary’s College, 59% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, for an average of $9,074 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,270, equal to roughly 95.8% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Looking at all undergraduates at St. Mary’s College, freshmen included, 57% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $6,315 each per year. That amounts to 19.8% higher than the $5,270 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,630 after two years and $25,260 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 57% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,315 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 798 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,039,133 |
The median student at St. Mary’s College borrows $23,199 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $23,199 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for St. Mary’s College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at St. Mary’s College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at St. Mary’s College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 185 | $34,839 |
| Completed (graduates) | 130 | $48,565 |
| Did not complete | 55 | $16,840 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $577.49/mo.
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at St. Mary’s College.
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 St. Mary’s College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 304 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,000 |
| Middle income | $19,500 |
| High income | $25,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $21,847 |
| Continuing-generation students | $23,250 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at St. Mary’s College.
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.
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.