by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Among first-year students at Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico, 23% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $4,032 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $3,946, equal to roughly 71.7% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Across the full undergraduate body at Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico (freshmen included), 34% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $5,563 annually. It comes to 41.0% above the $3,946 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,126 over two years and about $22,252 over four years. 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 | $5,563 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,301 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,237,629 |
The median student at Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico borrows $12,830 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,830 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,564 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,666 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,668 |
| 75th percentile | $22,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,169 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico.
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 Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 58 | $9,461 |
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 Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 44 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 14 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 666 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,542 |
| Middle income | $12,666 |
| High income | $15,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $14,666 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
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.