by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend San Francisco 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.
Looking at the entering class at SFSU, 25% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $5,735 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federal loan is $4,925, representing 89.5% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at SFSU, freshmen included, 24% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $6,672 in federal loans per year. This works out to 35.5% above the $4,925 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,344 by year two and around $26,688 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 24% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,672 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,805 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $32,057,346 |
The middle borrower at SFSU owes $12,923 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,923 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $15,371 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,852 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at SFSU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $6,000 |
| 75th percentile | $23,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at SFSU.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for SFSU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2830 | $19,194 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1683 | $19,732 |
| Did not complete | 1147 | $18,617 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $234.63/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at SFSU.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2676 | $19,194 |
| No Stafford loan | 154 | $18,000 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2377 | $19,196 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 453 | $18,617 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at SFSU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for SFSU follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5088 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $13,145 |
| Middle income | $12,500 |
| High income | $13,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,311 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $15,250 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for SFSU.
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.
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.