by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Sentara College of Health Sciences: 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.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Sentara College of Health Sciences, 62% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $9,161 a year.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $18,322 over two years and about $36,644 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 62% |
| Average federal loan per year | $9,161 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 142 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,300,930 |
The median student at Sentara College of Health Sciences borrows $15,694 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,694 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,450 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,029 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Sentara College of Health Sciences.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,250 |
| 25th percentile | $10,500 |
| 75th percentile | $23,770 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $30,250 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Sentara College of Health Sciences.
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 Sentara College of Health Sciences.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 79 | $12,308 |
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 Sentara College of Health Sciences.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 61 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 18 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Sentara College of Health Sciences.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Sentara College of Health Sciences is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 183 |
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 | $17,326 |
| Middle income | $14,250 |
| High income | $18,466 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,574 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,537 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,486 |
| Independent students | $16,269 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Sentara College of Health Sciences.
Subsidized vs. 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.
Did You Know?
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.