by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of Kentucky, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at UK, 41% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $10,702 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,243, which is 95.3% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at UK, freshmen included, 35% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $6,182 per year. This is 17.9% greater than the freshman federal average of $5,243.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,364 over two years and about $24,728 over four years. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 35% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,182 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 8,049 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $49,759,588 |
The median student at UK borrows $16,750 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at UK.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,898 |
| 75th percentile | $26,885 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,400 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UK.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at UK.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2841 | $25,629 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1910 | $30,006 |
| Did not complete | 931 | $20,136 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $356.8/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at UK.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2786 | $25,948 |
| No Stafford loan | 55 | $20,204 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2502 | $27,289 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 339 | $15,664 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. UK.
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 UK follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4277 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $17,007 |
| Middle income | $17,471 |
| High income | $15,946 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,750 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $16,500 |
| Independent students | $18,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UK.
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
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.