by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at ESF, 55% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $7,504 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,109, equal to roughly 92.9% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at ESF, 42% take out federal student loans, averaging $6,107 each per year. This is 19.5% more than the $5,109 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,214 across two years and $24,428 by the fourth year. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes 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 | 723 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,415,470 |
The middle borrower at ESF owes $13,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $13,462 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at ESF.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,535 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,485 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $29,743 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at ESF.
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 ESF.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 278 | $18,089 |
| Completed (graduates) | 23 | $11,551 |
| Did not complete | 255 | $18,390 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $137.35/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at ESF.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 244 | $18,294 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 34 | $16,406 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at ESF.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for ESF appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 404 |
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 | $13,164 |
| Middle income | $12,916 |
| High income | $13,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,464 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,744 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,000 |
| Independent students | $13,904 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at ESF.
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.
Did You Know?
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.