by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Spelman College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Spelman specifically, 73% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $8,173 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,664. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
For undergraduates overall at Spelman, 48% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $6,570 annually. This works out to 16.0% greater than the $5,664 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,140 across two years and $26,280 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 | 48% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,570 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,749 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $11,491,796 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Spelman carry a median federal debt of $21,750 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $21,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $15,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Spelman.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $13,500 |
| 75th percentile | $31,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $40,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Spelman.
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 Spelman.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 747 | $85,865 |
| Completed (graduates) | 455 | $109,807 |
| Did not complete | 292 | $62,622 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $1305.72/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 Spelman.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 613 | $86,954 |
| No Stafford loan | 134 | $82,996 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 609 | $86,954 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 138 | $82,996 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Spelman.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Spelman is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 529 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $22,796 |
| Middle income | $22,469 |
| High income | $21,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $22,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $21,750 |
| Independent students | $22,000 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Spelman.
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.
Important to Remember
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.