by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Santa Clara University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At SCU specifically, 48% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $12,247 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $10,097. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Looking at all undergraduates at SCU, freshmen included, 37% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $11,927 a year. This is 18.1% greater than the $10,097 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $23,854 across two years and $47,708 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 37% |
| Average federal loan per year | $11,927 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,338 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $27,885,575 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at SCU carry a median federal debt of $16,845 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,845 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,162 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at SCU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,793 |
| 25th percentile | $10,167 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at SCU.
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 SCU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 429 | $53,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 363 | $56,271 |
| Did not complete | 66 | $34,683 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $669.12/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 SCU.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 418 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 11 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 380 | $56,011 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 49 | $30,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at SCU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for SCU appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1307 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,472 |
| Middle income | $17,900 |
| High income | $17,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,001 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,175 |
| Independent students | $12,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at SCU.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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.
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.