by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Seattle Pacific University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at SPU, 49% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, borrowing on average $6,824 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,251, or about 95.5% 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.
For undergraduates overall at SPU, 49% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $6,623 in federal loans per year. That is 26.1% larger than the first-year federal average of $5,251.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,246 in two years and roughly $26,492 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 49% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,623 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,023 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,774,886 |
The median student at SPU borrows $16,946 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,946 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $24,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,834 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 SPU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $10,500 |
| 75th percentile | $30,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,500 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at SPU.
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 SPU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 529 | $25,977 |
| Completed (graduates) | 273 | $37,687 |
| Did not complete | 256 | $21,889 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $448.14/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at SPU.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 500 | $27,069 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 29 | $17,803 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for SPU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for SPU is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1007 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $17,519 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $17,965 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $16,325 |
| Independent students | $22,001 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at SPU.
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
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.