by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Samford University— 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 Samford, 29% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, averaging $9,110 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,273, representing 95.9% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at Samford (freshmen included), 27% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $6,374 per year. This is 20.9% larger than the first-year federal average of $5,273.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,748 by year two and around $25,496 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 27% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,374 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,030 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,564,987 |
The median student at Samford borrows $15,750 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Samford.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,096 |
| 25th percentile | $7,545 |
| 75th percentile | $26,040 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Samford.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Samford.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 545 | $31,667 |
| Completed (graduates) | 367 | $39,000 |
| Did not complete | 178 | $25,000 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $463.75/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 Samford.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 524 | $31,683 |
| No Stafford loan | 21 | $27,200 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 504 | $32,137 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 41 | $23,971 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Samford.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Samford follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 825 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,538 |
| Middle income | $17,494 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,750 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,750 |
| Independent students | $17,044 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Samford.
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.
Worth Knowing
Declaring bankruptcy does not erase federal student loan debt. If you stop paying, the federal government can garnish a portion of your wages until the loans are repaid.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.