by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend St Olaf College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at St. Olaf, 44% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $6,950 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,969, which is 90.3% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at St. Olaf, 42% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $6,107 per year. That is 22.9% more than the first-year federal average of $4,969.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,214 across two years and $24,428 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 42% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,107 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,287 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,859,542 |
The middle borrower at St. Olaf owes $23,250 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $23,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for St. Olaf.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,632 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $29,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at St. Olaf.
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. Olaf.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 158 | $37,330 |
| Completed (graduates) | 123 | $40,568 |
| Did not complete | 35 | $29,080 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $482.4/mo.
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at St. Olaf.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for St. Olaf follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 552 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,276 |
| Middle income | $21,500 |
| High income | $25,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $22,497 |
| Continuing-generation students | $23,707 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at St. Olaf.
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
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.