by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend The University of Texas at El Paso: 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.
Looking at the entering class at UTEP, 17% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $5,003 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $4,759, representing 86.5% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Counting every undergraduate at UTEP, 27% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $6,621 each per year. This is 39.1% more than the first-year federal average of $4,759.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,242 by year two and around $26,484 across a four-year program. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 27% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,621 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 5,512 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $36,496,862 |
The median student at UTEP borrows $12,573 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,573 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $18,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 UTEP.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,625 |
| 25th percentile | $5,000 |
| 75th percentile | $23,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UTEP.
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 UTEP.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1097 | $10,857 |
| Completed (graduates) | 448 | $11,916 |
| Did not complete | 649 | $10,240 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $141.69/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at UTEP.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1073 | $11,020 |
| No Stafford loan | 24 | $8,174 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 878 | $11,010 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 219 | $10,513 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for UTEP.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for UTEP is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3921 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,500 |
| Middle income | $12,500 |
| High income | $13,383 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,118 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,239 |
| Independent students | $17,123 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UTEP.
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.