by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Sterling College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Sterling specifically, 43% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $8,496 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $7,244. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Sterling, 44% take out federal student loans, for a typical $6,979 a year. That is 3.7% lower than the first-year federal average of $7,244.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,958 after two years and $27,916 across a four-year program. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 44% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,979 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 29 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $202,401 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Sterling carry a median federal debt of $13,625 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,625 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,980 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Sterling.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | $6,500 |
| 75th percentile | $26,140 |
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Sterling.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 21 | $19,175 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Sterling.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Sterling follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 32 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,596 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,125 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Sterling.
The Difference Between 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.
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.