by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend The University of Texas at Austin— 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.
At UT Austin specifically, 27% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $6,066 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $5,017, representing 91.2% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at UT Austin, 27% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $6,045 per year. This works out to 20.5% more than the freshman federal average of $5,017.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,090 in two years and roughly $24,180 by the fourth year. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 27% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,045 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 11,552 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $69,836,655 |
The median student at UT Austin borrows $18,909 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $18,909 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,785 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 UT Austin.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,000 |
| 25th percentile | $10,000 |
| 75th percentile | $28,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,141 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UT Austin.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at UT Austin.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 5883 | $24,244 |
| Completed (graduates) | 4845 | $26,632 |
| Did not complete | 1038 | $18,952 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $316.68/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at UT Austin.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 5699 | $24,773 |
| No Stafford loan | 184 | $19,613 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 5499 | $25,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 384 | $19,973 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UT Austin.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for UT Austin follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 7727 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,750 |
| Middle income | $18,446 |
| High income | $19,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,258 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,477 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,750 |
| Independent students | $21,814 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UT Austin.
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?
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.