by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Salem State University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Salem State, 58% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $7,765 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,007, equal to roughly 91.0% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. 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 Salem State, 56% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $6,268 each per year. This works out to 25.2% more than the freshman federal average of $5,007.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,536 in two years and roughly $25,072 over a four-year span. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 56% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,268 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,380 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $14,917,560 |
The middle borrower at Salem State owes $19,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Salem State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,772 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,700 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Salem State.
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 Salem State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 944 | $19,274 |
| Completed (graduates) | 516 | $21,128 |
| Did not complete | 428 | $16,977 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $251.23/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 Salem State.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 932 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 12 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 765 | $17,791 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 179 | $26,514 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Salem State.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Salem State follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1945 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $20,000 |
| Middle income | $19,500 |
| High income | $18,310 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,500 |
| Independent students | $23,380 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Salem State.
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.
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.