by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Tennessee Wesleyan University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at TWU, 57% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $5,826 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $5,418, which is 98.5% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
For undergraduates overall at TWU, 56% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $6,939 a year. This works out to 28.1% larger than the freshman federal average of $5,418.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,878 by year two and around $27,756 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 56% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,939 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 447 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,101,838 |
The median student at TWU borrows $14,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 TWU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,591 |
| 25th percentile | $6,250 |
| 75th percentile | $24,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at TWU.
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 TWU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 152 | $16,426 |
| Completed (graduates) | 57 | $22,585 |
| Did not complete | 95 | $15,100 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $268.56/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 TWU.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 140 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 12 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at TWU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for TWU appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 290 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,000 |
| Middle income | $13,137 |
| High income | $14,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,000 |
| Independent students | $18,750 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at TWU.
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.
Did You Know?
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.