by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend St. John’s College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At St. John’s, 39% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, with a typical loan of $5,470 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $5,332, equal to roughly 96.9% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
For undergraduates overall at St. John’s, 42% take out federal student loans, averaging $6,750 each per year. That is 26.6% higher than the first-year federal average of $5,332.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,500 after two years and $27,000 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 | 42% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,750 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 155 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,046,185 |
The median student at St. John’s borrows $13,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $12,000 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for St. John’s.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,488 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at St. John’s.
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 St. John’s.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 59 | $15,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at St. John’s.
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 St. John’s is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 178 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,000 |
| Middle income | $12,000 |
| High income | $12,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,050 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,500 |
| Independent students | $14,067 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at St. John’s.
The Difference Between 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.
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.