by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Suffolk University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Suffolk, 59% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $10,907 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,635. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Suffolk, 55% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $6,771 a year. That amounts to 20.2% higher than the $5,635 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,542 over two years and about $27,084 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 55% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,771 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,456 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $16,628,984 |
The middle borrower at Suffolk owes $20,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $20,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,889 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Suffolk.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $8,286 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,804 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Suffolk.
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 Suffolk.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 825 | $32,519 |
| Completed (graduates) | 544 | $38,234 |
| Did not complete | 281 | $24,339 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $454.64/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at Suffolk.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 811 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 756 | $33,567 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 69 | $15,934 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Suffolk.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Suffolk follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2237 |
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 | $22,635 |
| Middle income | $22,750 |
| High income | $19,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $21,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $20,000 |
| Independent students | $25,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Suffolk.
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
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.