by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Southern Adventist University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Southern Adventist specifically, 46% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $9,375 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federally funded loan is $7,481. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
For undergraduates overall at Southern Adventist, 44% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $6,359 each per year. It comes to 15.0% below the $7,481 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,718 after two years and $25,436 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 | 44% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,359 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,184 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,528,846 |
The middle borrower at Southern Adventist owes $18,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $18,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $24,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $12,000 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Southern Adventist.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,000 |
| 25th percentile | $8,225 |
| 75th percentile | $30,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $41,376 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Southern Adventist.
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 Southern Adventist.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 312 | $17,553 |
| Completed (graduates) | 138 | $22,600 |
| Did not complete | 174 | $14,160 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $268.74/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Southern Adventist.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 286 | $18,340 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 26 | $8,988 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Southern Adventist.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Southern Adventist appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 615 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,250 |
| Middle income | $18,750 |
| High income | $15,750 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,250 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,485 |
| Independent students | $20,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Southern Adventist.
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.
Important to Remember
Declaring bankruptcy does not erase federal student loan debt. If you stop paying, the federal government can garnish a portion of your wages until the loans are repaid.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.