by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Susquehanna University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Susquehanna specifically, 71% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $9,669 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,323, equal to roughly 96.8% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. 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 Susquehanna, 70% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $6,588 in federal loans per year. It comes to 23.8% greater than the $5,323 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,176 across two years and $26,352 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 70% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,588 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,477 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $9,730,191 |
The middle borrower at Susquehanna owes $27,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $27,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| 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 Susquehanna.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Susquehanna.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Susquehanna.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 364 | $39,011 |
| Completed (graduates) | 285 | $46,359 |
| Did not complete | 79 | $22,500 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $551.26/mo.
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Susquehanna.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Susquehanna appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 449 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $27,000 |
| Middle income | $27,000 |
| High income | $27,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $27,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $26,799 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $27,000 |
| Independent students | $24,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Susquehanna.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
Worth Knowing
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.