by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend University of Connecticut: 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.
At UCONN, 49% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, at roughly $10,213 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,286, or about 96.1% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
For undergraduates overall at UCONN, 42% borrow through federal student loan programs, borrowing on average $6,446 each per year. It comes to 21.9% larger than the $5,286 borrowed by freshmen.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,892 after two years and $25,784 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 | 42% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,446 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 8,057 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $51,936,578 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at UCONN carry a median federal debt of $18,610 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $18,610 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
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 UCONN.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,250 |
| 25th percentile | $9,100 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,250 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at UCONN.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at UCONN.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 4082 | $30,417 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2985 | $35,324 |
| Did not complete | 1097 | $21,653 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $420.04/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 UCONN.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 3969 | $30,991 |
| No Stafford loan | 113 | $19,257 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 3649 | $31,293 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 433 | $25,000 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. UCONN.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for UCONN appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4931 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,000 |
| Middle income | $18,745 |
| High income | $19,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $18,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,303 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,500 |
| Independent students | $19,791 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at UCONN.
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.
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.