by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend University of Colorado Colorado Springs— 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.
At UCCS specifically, 41% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $8,807 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $4,979, or about 90.5% 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.
Across the full undergraduate body at UCCS (freshmen included), 36% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $6,709 in federal loans per year. That is 34.7% larger than the $4,979 borrowed by freshmen.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,418 by year two and around $26,836 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 36% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,709 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 3,165 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $21,232,537 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at UCCS carry a median federal debt of $12,965 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,965 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,597 |
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 UCCS.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,204 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $24,048 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,815 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at UCCS.
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 UCCS.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1608 | $19,370 |
| Completed (graduates) | 791 | $21,710 |
| Did not complete | 817 | $17,140 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $258.16/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at UCCS.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1543 | $19,360 |
| No Stafford loan | 65 | $19,792 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1355 | $20,200 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 253 | $14,800 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. UCCS.
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 UCCS appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1919 |
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 | $13,466 |
| Middle income | $12,553 |
| High income | $12,522 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $16,575 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at UCCS.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Worth Knowing
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.