by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Texas Woman’s University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At TWU, 51% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $6,213 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,240, or about 95.3% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at TWU (freshmen included), 44% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $6,654 a year. It comes to 27.0% larger than the $5,240 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,308 over two years and about $26,616 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 44% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,654 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 3,900 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $25,951,061 |
The median student at TWU borrows $14,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,218 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
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 TWU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,725 |
| 25th percentile | $6,878 |
| 75th percentile | $25,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,308 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at TWU.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for TWU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1348 | $12,097 |
| Completed (graduates) | 769 | $13,471 |
| Did not complete | 579 | $10,387 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $160.18/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.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1333 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 15 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1065 | $11,119 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 283 | $15,203 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for TWU.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for TWU appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3195 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,000 |
| Middle income | $14,223 |
| High income | $13,028 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,857 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $17,975 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for TWU.
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.
Important to Remember
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.