by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of California-Irvine: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at UC Irvine, 21% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $6,055 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,457, amounting to 81.0% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical 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 UC Irvine (freshmen included), 20% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $5,329 each per year. It comes to 19.6% above the $4,457 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $10,658 across two years and $21,316 by the fourth year. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 20% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,329 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 5,990 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $31,922,398 |
The median student at UC Irvine borrows $13,820 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,820 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $15,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,816 |
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 UC Irvine.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,997 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $23,200 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $28,458 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at UC Irvine.
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 UC Irvine.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2962 | $22,127 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2298 | $22,665 |
| Did not complete | 664 | $20,343 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $269.51/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at UC Irvine.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2823 | $22,053 |
| No Stafford loan | 139 | $23,196 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2570 | $22,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 392 | $23,128 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UC Irvine.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for UC Irvine is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3996 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $13,000 |
| Middle income | $13,300 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,297 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,727 |
| Independent students | $14,334 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UC Irvine.
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?
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.