by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Truman State University: 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 Truman State, 40% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $6,518 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,979, or about 90.5% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at Truman State (freshmen included), 34% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $5,974 a year. That is 20.0% larger than the $4,979 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $11,948 in two years and roughly $23,896 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 34% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,974 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 905 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,406,068 |
The middle borrower at Truman State owes $16,679 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,679 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,684 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Truman State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,000 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Truman State.
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 Truman State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 255 | $11,500 |
| Completed (graduates) | 141 | $14,503 |
| Did not complete | 114 | $8,887 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $172.46/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 Truman State.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 220 | $11,543 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 35 | $11,000 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Truman State.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Truman State is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1003 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,000 |
| Middle income | $16,609 |
| High income | $18,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,293 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $16,899 |
| Independent students | $11,368 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Truman State.
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.
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.