by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Sam Houston State University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At SHSU, 54% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $5,704 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,571. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Counting every undergraduate at SHSU, 46% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $6,769 in federal loans per year. It comes to 21.5% more than the freshman federal average of $5,571.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,538 across two years and $27,076 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 46% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,769 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 8,299 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $56,174,931 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at SHSU carry a median federal debt of $16,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,983 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for SHSU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $6,693 |
| 75th percentile | $26,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,750 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at SHSU.
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 SHSU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 3634 | $16,728 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2191 | $19,433 |
| Did not complete | 1443 | $12,168 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $231.08/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at SHSU.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 3576 | $16,835 |
| No Stafford loan | 58 | $9,947 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 3406 | $16,944 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 228 | $12,143 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at SHSU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for SHSU appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3638 |
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 | $17,250 |
| Middle income | $16,500 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,511 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $19,714 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at SHSU.
The Difference Between 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
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.