by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Tufts University— 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.
For incoming students at Tufts, 21% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $9,362 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $3,806, which is 69.2% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Looking at all undergraduates at Tufts, freshmen included, 19% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $4,781 annually. This works out to 25.6% above the $3,806 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $9,562 after two years and $19,124 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 19% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,781 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,297 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,201,028 |
The median student at Tufts borrows $15,043 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,043 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $16,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,125 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Tufts.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,950 |
| 25th percentile | $8,000 |
| 75th percentile | $22,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $25,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Tufts.
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 Tufts.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 602 | $39,299 |
| Completed (graduates) | 520 | $38,325 |
| Did not complete | 82 | $40,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $455.73/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Tufts.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 584 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 18 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 489 | $40,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 113 | $36,700 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Tufts.
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 Tufts appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1525 |
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 | $10,465 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $15,626 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,454 |
| Independent students | $12,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Tufts.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Worth Knowing
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.