by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Smith College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Among first-year students at Smith, 16% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $9,095 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,436, equal to roughly 98.8% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Smith, 14% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $6,293 per year. It comes to 15.8% above the $5,436 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,586 in two years and roughly $25,172 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 14% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,293 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 353 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,221,585 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Smith carry a median federal debt of $13,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $17,550 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Smith.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $6,467 |
| 25th percentile | $13,500 |
| 75th percentile | $23,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Smith.
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 Smith.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 185 | $28,285 |
| Completed (graduates) | 136 | $30,366 |
| Did not complete | 49 | $23,000 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $361.08/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 Smith.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 173 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 12 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Smith.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Smith is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 671 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,750 |
| Middle income | $13,500 |
| High income | $13,471 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,750 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,500 |
| Independent students | $16,747 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Smith.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Did You Know?
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.