by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Southern University at New Orleans, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At SUNO specifically, 60% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, borrowing on average $3,534 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $3,534, or about 64.3% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Looking at all undergraduates at SUNO, freshmen included, 64% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $3,725 in federal loans per year. It comes to 5.4% larger than the $3,534 borrowed by freshmen.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $7,450 over two years and about $14,900 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 | 64% |
| Average federal loan per year | $3,725 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 693 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,581,664 |
The median student at SUNO borrows $19,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $31,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,250 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for SUNO.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,329 |
| 75th percentile | $33,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $45,941 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at SUNO.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for SUNO.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 236 | $8,763 |
| Completed (graduates) | 93 | $9,000 |
| Did not complete | 143 | $8,455 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $107.02/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 SUNO.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 201 | $8,445 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 35 | $13,456 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. SUNO.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for SUNO appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 12.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1029 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $20,500 |
| Middle income | $17,248 |
| High income | $15,625 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $20,119 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $16,000 |
| Independent students | $24,022 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at SUNO.
The Difference Between 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
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.