by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Texas Southern University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At TSU, 71% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $6,674 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $6,141. This reaches or tops the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap for a typical dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at TSU, 67% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $6,828 per year. This works out to 11.2% larger than the $6,141 borrowed by freshmen.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,656 over two years and about $27,312 across a four-year program. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 67% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,828 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,464 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $30,482,273 |
The middle borrower at TSU owes $16,250 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $29,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $12,000 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for TSU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $30,504 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $44,431 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at TSU.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at TSU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1930 | $16,994 |
| Completed (graduates) | 524 | $19,929 |
| Did not complete | 1406 | $16,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $236.98/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 TSU.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1892 | $17,013 |
| No Stafford loan | 38 | $14,793 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1802 | $17,328 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 128 | $13,880 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at TSU.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for TSU appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3214 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $17,856 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $13,689 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $20,734 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for TSU.
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.