by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for The University of Tennessee-Martin— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At UT Martin specifically, 41% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $5,852 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $5,074, equal to roughly 92.3% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at UT Martin, 41% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $6,256 annually. This works out to 23.3% more than the freshman federal average of $5,074.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,512 after two years and $25,024 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 41% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,256 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,908 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $11,935,635 |
The median student at UT Martin borrows $12,981 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,981 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,024 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for UT Martin.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $6,250 |
| 75th percentile | $27,600 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,890 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UT Martin.
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 UT Martin.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 507 | $11,550 |
| Completed (graduates) | 250 | $13,218 |
| Did not complete | 257 | $10,743 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $157.18/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at UT Martin.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 496 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 11 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 441 | $11,424 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 66 | $13,274 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for UT Martin.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for UT Martin appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1700 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,687 |
| Middle income | $13,510 |
| High income | $12,766 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,569 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $16,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at UT Martin.
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.
Worth Knowing
Declaring bankruptcy does not erase federal student loan debt. If you stop paying, the federal government can garnish a portion of your wages until the loans are repaid.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.