by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Southwestern Adventist University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Southwestern Adventist University, 65% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, averaging $6,433 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,581. This reaches or tops the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap for a typical 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.
Looking at all undergraduates at Southwestern Adventist University, freshmen included, 68% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $7,278 annually. This is 30.4% larger than the $5,581 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $14,556 in two years and roughly $29,112 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 68% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,278 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 427 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,107,560 |
The middle borrower at Southwestern Adventist University owes $21,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $21,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,998 |
| Students who withdrew | $12,000 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Southwestern Adventist University.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $6,724 |
| 75th percentile | $27,866 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $37,361 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Southwestern Adventist University.
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 Southwestern Adventist University.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 97 | $12,400 |
| Completed (graduates) | 57 | $14,000 |
| Did not complete | 40 | $10,142 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $166.47/mo.
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Southwestern Adventist University.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Southwestern Adventist University appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 260 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $23,685 |
| Middle income | $22,274 |
| High income | $17,750 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $22,297 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,125 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $22,000 |
| Independent students | $20,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Southwestern Adventist University.
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.
Did You Know?
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.