by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of Arkansas at Little Rock, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at UA Little Rock, 34% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $5,767 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,712. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at UA Little Rock (freshmen included), 44% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $7,559 in federal loans per year. This works out to 32.3% larger than the $5,712 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $15,118 over two years and about $30,236 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 44% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,559 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,092 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $15,812,556 |
The median student at UA Little Rock borrows $14,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,220 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 UA Little Rock.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,816 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $24,241 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $36,750 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UA Little Rock.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at UA Little Rock.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 970 | $10,181 |
| Completed (graduates) | 379 | $10,492 |
| Did not complete | 591 | $10,163 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $124.76/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at UA Little Rock.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 960 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 781 | $10,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 189 | $12,511 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UA Little Rock.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for UA Little Rock appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3381 |
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 | $15,500 |
| Middle income | $14,250 |
| High income | $12,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,983 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,908 |
| Independent students | $16,600 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UA Little Rock.
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.
Important to Remember
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.