by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Tusculum 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.
Among first-year students at Tusculum, 53% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $6,999 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,134, equal to roughly 93.3% 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.
Counting every undergraduate at Tusculum, 59% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $6,730 a year. That amounts to 31.1% greater than the freshman federal average of $5,134.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,460 after two years and $26,920 after four. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 59% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,730 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 542 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,647,698 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Tusculum carry a median federal debt of $14,250 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Tusculum.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,694 |
| 25th percentile | $7,475 |
| 75th percentile | $28,710 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $41,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Tusculum.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Tusculum.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 252 | $12,144 |
| Completed (graduates) | 135 | $14,951 |
| Did not complete | 117 | $10,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $177.78/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 Tusculum.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 225 | $12,666 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 27 | $9,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Tusculum.
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 Tusculum follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 770 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $13,688 |
| Middle income | $15,968 |
| High income | $13,666 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,626 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,100 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $19,572 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Tusculum.
Subsidized vs. 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.