by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Thiel College: 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 Thiel College, 79% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $9,307 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,622. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. 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 Thiel College, 83% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $6,598 per year. This is 17.4% larger than the $5,622 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,196 by year two and around $26,392 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 83% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,598 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 645 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,255,807 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Thiel College carry a median federal debt of $18,250 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $18,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Thiel College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $8,250 |
| 75th percentile | $30,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $41,250 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Thiel College.
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 Thiel College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 154 | $25,080 |
| Completed (graduates) | 72 | $47,131 |
| Did not complete | 82 | $19,215 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $560.44/mo.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Thiel College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Thiel College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 377 |
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 | $12,750 |
| Middle income | $14,125 |
| High income | $21,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,624 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,375 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Thiel College.
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.
Important to Remember
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.