by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend University of Virginia’s College at Wise: 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.
Among first-year students at UVa - Wise, 44% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $7,342 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $4,941, or about 89.8% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at UVa - Wise, freshmen included, 38% finance part of their studies with federal loans, borrowing on average $6,000 per year. That amounts to 21.4% above the first-year federal average of $4,941.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,000 after two years and $24,000 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 | 38% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,000 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 436 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,616,193 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at UVa - Wise carry a median federal debt of $10,695 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $10,695 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $16,750 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 UVa - Wise.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $22,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $29,919 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at UVa - Wise.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at UVa - Wise.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 180 | $11,852 |
| Completed (graduates) | 37 | $15,555 |
| Did not complete | 143 | $11,355 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $184.97/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 UVa - Wise.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 104 | $10,838 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 76 | $15,352 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UVa - Wise.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for UVa - Wise is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 357 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $11,000 |
| Middle income | $11,000 |
| High income | $9,847 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $10,800 |
| Continuing-generation students | $10,194 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,000 |
| Independent students | $8,375 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UVa - Wise.
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.
Did You Know?
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.