by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend St. Mary’s University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at St. Mary’s, 58% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $7,821 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,480, equal to roughly 99.6% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at St. Mary’s, freshmen included, 52% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $6,707 per year. This is 22.4% higher than the $5,480 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,414 after two years and $26,828 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 52% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,707 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 994 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,666,519 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at St. Mary’s carry a median federal debt of $19,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,563 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at St. Mary’s.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $9,146 |
| 75th percentile | $31,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $44,302 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at St. Mary’s.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at St. Mary’s.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 338 | $17,161 |
| Completed (graduates) | 232 | $16,723 |
| Did not complete | 106 | $17,992 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $198.85/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at St. Mary’s.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 313 | $17,200 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 25 | $10,000 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. St. Mary’s.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for St. Mary’s appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1002 |
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 | $19,500 |
| Middle income | $20,500 |
| High income | $18,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,470 |
| Independent students | $25,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at St. Mary’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.
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.