by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend The University of Alabama— 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.
Looking at the entering class at UA, 37% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $11,529 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,285, representing 96.1% 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.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at UA, 33% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $6,298 in federal loans per year. This works out to 19.2% higher than the $5,285 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,596 after two years and $25,192 over four years. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 33% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,298 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 10,828 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $68,190,041 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at UA carry a median federal debt of $17,986 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,986 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,750 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,250 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for UA.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,439 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at UA.
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 UA.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 3981 | $41,221 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2447 | $48,666 |
| Did not complete | 1534 | $32,683 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $578.69/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 UA.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 3859 | $41,342 |
| No Stafford loan | 122 | $35,313 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 3607 | $43,890 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 374 | $20,000 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for UA.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for UA is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4678 |
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 | $17,750 |
| Middle income | $18,500 |
| High income | $17,750 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $18,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,967 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,283 |
| Independent students | $16,444 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at UA.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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.
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.