by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Southern California University of Health Sciences— 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.
Among first-year students at SCU, 50% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $12,619 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $12,619. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at SCU, freshmen included, 59% take out federal student loans, averaging $12,185 each per year. That amounts to 3.4% less than the $12,619 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $24,370 over two years and about $48,740 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 59% |
| Average federal loan per year | $12,185 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 78 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $950,454 |
The middle borrower at SCU owes $10,950 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $10,950 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,400 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,600 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 SCU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | $6,385 |
| 75th percentile | $18,750 |
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at SCU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 67 | $18,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 38 | $21,975 |
| Did not complete | 29 | $13,900 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $261.31/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 SCU.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 50 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 17 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for SCU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for SCU is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 187 |
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 | $9,900 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $10,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $11,950 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at SCU.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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.