by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for St. Andrews University: 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.
For incoming students at St. Andrews, 74% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $8,730 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,783. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Looking at all undergraduates at St. Andrews, freshmen included, 72% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $6,986 in federal loans per year. It comes to 20.8% higher than the $5,783 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,972 in two years and roughly $27,944 across a four-year program. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 72% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,986 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 582 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,065,731 |
The middle borrower at St. Andrews owes $8,750 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at St. Andrews.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $22,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at St. Andrews.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at St. Andrews.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 427 | $17,094 |
| Completed (graduates) | 142 | $24,764 |
| Did not complete | 285 | $15,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $294.47/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at St. Andrews.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 400 | $17,320 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 27 | $16,021 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at St. Andrews.
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 St. Andrews follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 257 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
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 | $8,250 |
| Middle income | $8,437 |
| High income | $9,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,613 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $8,250 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for St. Andrews.
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?
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.