by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Simpson University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Simpson U specifically, 74% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $9,438 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,491, or about 99.8% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at Simpson U (freshmen included), 62% finance part of their studies with federal loans, borrowing on average $7,561 per year. This works out to 37.7% greater than the $5,491 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $15,122 by year two and around $30,244 by the fourth year. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 62% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,561 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 469 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,545,910 |
The middle borrower at Simpson U owes $13,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $18,750 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Simpson U.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $8,332 |
| 75th percentile | $23,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Simpson U.
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 Simpson U.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 116 | $17,871 |
| Completed (graduates) | 56 | $19,112 |
| Did not complete | 60 | $17,230 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $227.26/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Simpson U.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 104 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 12 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Simpson U.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Simpson U appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 456 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,500 |
| Middle income | $14,000 |
| High income | $13,988 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,899 |
| Independent students | $14,365 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Simpson U.
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.
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.