by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend University of Arkansas: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at UARK, 41% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, for an average of $9,231 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,504. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at UARK (freshmen included), 33% take out federal student loans, averaging $6,435 each per year. It comes to 16.9% higher than the first-year federal average of $5,504.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,870 after two years and $25,740 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 33% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,435 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 9,146 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $58,850,170 |
The median student at UARK borrows $15,749 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,749 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,066 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for UARK.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $26,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,750 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UARK.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for UARK.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2226 | $21,521 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1413 | $28,086 |
| Did not complete | 813 | $16,316 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $333.97/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at UARK.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2169 | $21,600 |
| No Stafford loan | 57 | $20,242 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1965 | $22,922 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 261 | $15,194 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UARK.
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 UARK appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3074 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,000 |
| Middle income | $15,250 |
| High income | $16,750 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,746 |
| Independent students | $15,753 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at UARK.
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.
Important to Remember
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.