by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Unity Environmental University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Unity specifically, 87% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $3,722 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $3,566, representing 64.8% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
For undergraduates overall at Unity, 86% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $5,061 a year. It comes to 41.9% greater than the $3,566 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $10,122 across two years and $20,244 by the fourth year. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 86% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,061 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,852 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $24,557,673 |
The median student at Unity borrows $4,752 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $4,752 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $3,935 |
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 Unity.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Unity.
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 Unity.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 342 | $20,311 |
| Completed (graduates) | 96 | $30,473 |
| Did not complete | 246 | $16,462 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $362.36/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Unity.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 315 | $20,889 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 27 | $14,071 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Unity.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Unity follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 153 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $3,560 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $6,558 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $4,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,592 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $7,126 |
| Independent students | $3,369 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Unity.
The Difference Between 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.