by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Southern Connecticut State University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at SCSU, 64% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $7,398 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,382, which is 97.9% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Across the full undergraduate body at SCSU (freshmen included), 57% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $8,449 a year. This is 57.0% higher than the $5,382 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $16,898 across two years and $33,796 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 | 57% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,449 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 3,535 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $29,867,766 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at SCSU carry a median federal debt of $15,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,710 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for SCSU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,785 |
| 25th percentile | $6,550 |
| 75th percentile | $26,024 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at SCSU.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at SCSU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1798 | $20,658 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1117 | $23,770 |
| Did not complete | 681 | $17,460 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $282.65/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 SCSU.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1785 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 13 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1621 | $20,548 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 177 | $21,506 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. SCSU.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for SCSU follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2756 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,000 |
| Middle income | $15,188 |
| High income | $15,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,456 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,750 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,750 |
| Independent students | $16,830 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at SCSU.
Subsidized and 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.
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.