by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University at Albany, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at UAlbany, 60% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $7,056 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,181, equal to roughly 94.2% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. 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 UAlbany, freshmen included, 51% take out federal student loans, averaging $6,277 per year. It comes to 21.2% above the first-year federal average of $5,181.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,554 after two years and $25,108 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 | 51% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,277 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 6,206 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $38,955,703 |
The median student at UAlbany borrows $15,059 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,059 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
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 UAlbany.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,360 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $30,747 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UAlbany.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at UAlbany.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2714 | $20,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1793 | $22,398 |
| Did not complete | 921 | $16,446 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $266.34/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at UAlbany.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2673 | $20,000 |
| No Stafford loan | 41 | $14,018 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2353 | $19,984 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 361 | $20,601 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UAlbany.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for UAlbany is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4104 |
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 | $16,530 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,416 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $17,276 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at UAlbany.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.