by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend University of Illinois Springfield: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at UIS, 41% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $5,637 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,560, equal to roughly 82.9% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. 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 UIS (freshmen included), 37% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $6,776 annually. This works out to 48.6% above the $4,560 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,552 by year two and around $27,104 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 | 37% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,776 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 850 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,759,428 |
The median student at UIS borrows $14,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,128 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,019 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for UIS.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,581 |
| 25th percentile | $6,500 |
| 75th percentile | $23,514 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,046 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UIS.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for UIS.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 628 | $13,450 |
| Completed (graduates) | 286 | $13,450 |
| Did not complete | 342 | $13,430 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $159.93/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at UIS.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 616 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 12 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 430 | $11,489 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 198 | $17,825 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. UIS.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for UIS is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1050 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,653 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $14,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,284 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,416 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,250 |
| Independent students | $15,744 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at UIS.
Subsidized and 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
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.