by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Siena College: 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.
For incoming students at Siena, 69% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $10,069 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,211, which is 94.7% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at Siena (freshmen included), 67% take out federal student loans, for a typical $6,545 annually. That is 25.6% greater than the first-year federal average of $5,211.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,090 by year two and around $26,180 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 67% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,545 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,307 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $15,099,513 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Siena carry a median federal debt of $21,471 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $21,471 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,561 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,875 |
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 Siena.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Siena.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Siena.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 379 | $33,856 |
| Completed (graduates) | 263 | $40,800 |
| Did not complete | 116 | $21,732 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $485.16/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 Siena.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 358 | $35,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 21 | $25,665 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Siena.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Siena follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 791 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,750 |
| Middle income | $23,250 |
| High income | $21,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $21,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $20,641 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $21,500 |
| Independent students | $20,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Siena.
Subsidized vs. 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
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.