by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Stevens Institute of Technology: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Stevens, 54% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, borrowing on average $12,571 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,252, or about 95.5% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
For undergraduates overall at Stevens, 53% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $6,280 per year. It comes to 19.6% higher than the $5,252 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,560 in two years and roughly $25,120 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 53% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,280 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,157 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $13,545,876 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Stevens carry a median federal debt of $23,250 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $23,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,000 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Stevens.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $16,234 |
| 75th percentile | $30,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,875 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Stevens.
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 Stevens.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 362 | $43,375 |
| Completed (graduates) | 248 | $53,192 |
| Did not complete | 114 | $33,719 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $632.51/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Stevens.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 306 | $47,019 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 56 | $20,150 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Stevens.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Stevens follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 521 |
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 | $23,386 |
| Middle income | $24,000 |
| High income | $23,250 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $23,633 |
| Continuing-generation students | $23,250 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Stevens.
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
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.