by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend University of Florida-Online: 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 UF Online specifically, 7% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, for an average of $6,205 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $5,034, or about 91.5% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at UF Online, 15% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $6,702 a year. This is 33.1% above the first-year federal average of $5,034.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,404 after two years and $26,808 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 15% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,702 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 675 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,524,179 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at UF Online carry a median federal debt of $14,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $15,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,000 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at UF Online.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,624 |
| 25th percentile | $7,213 |
| 75th percentile | $24,134 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $30,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UF Online.
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 UF Online.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2886 | $18,236 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2045 | $18,837 |
| Did not complete | 841 | $16,375 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $223.99/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at UF Online.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2806 | $18,446 |
| No Stafford loan | 80 | $13,083 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2109 | $17,804 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 777 | $19,187 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UF Online.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for UF Online is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 6450 |
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 | $13,000 |
| Middle income | $13,397 |
| High income | $15,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,791 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,327 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,000 |
| Independent students | $14,375 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at UF Online.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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
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.