by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend University of California-Santa Cruz— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at UC Santa Cruz, 31% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $6,694 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $4,641, representing 84.4% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at UC Santa Cruz, 28% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $5,732 per year. It comes to 23.5% greater than the freshman federal average of $4,641.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $11,464 across two years and $22,928 over four years. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 28% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,732 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 5,052 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $28,957,737 |
The middle borrower at UC Santa Cruz owes $14,334 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,334 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $16,666 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,166 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for UC Santa Cruz.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,700 |
| 25th percentile | $8,900 |
| 75th percentile | $25,512 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $29,410 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at UC Santa Cruz.
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 Santa Cruz.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1708 | $27,054 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1145 | $28,682 |
| Did not complete | 563 | $25,185 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $341.06/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 UC Santa Cruz.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1624 | $27,272 |
| No Stafford loan | 84 | $25,291 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1548 | $27,272 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 160 | $25,397 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UC Santa Cruz.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for UC Santa Cruz appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2713 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,710 |
| Middle income | $14,876 |
| High income | $13,080 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,333 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,362 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,000 |
| Independent students | $16,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UC Santa Cruz.
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.