by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of California-Santa Barbara: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at UCSB, 24% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, borrowing on average $7,653 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,374, equal to roughly 79.5% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at UCSB, 18% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $5,045 in federal loans per year. That amounts to 15.3% above the $4,374 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $10,090 over two years and about $20,180 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 18% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,045 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,208 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $21,227,348 |
The middle borrower at UCSB owes $11,875 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $11,875 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $13,993 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,500 |
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 UCSB.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,166 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $23,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $28,677 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UCSB.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for UCSB.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2240 | $23,202 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1453 | $26,465 |
| Did not complete | 787 | $17,975 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $314.7/mo.
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 UCSB.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2083 | $23,178 |
| No Stafford loan | 157 | $23,271 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1883 | $23,756 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 357 | $21,607 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UCSB.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for UCSB is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3334 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $11,167 |
| Middle income | $11,668 |
| High income | $12,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $11,501 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,700 |
| Independent students | $12,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at UCSB.
Subsidized vs. 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?
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.