by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of Louisville— 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 UofL specifically, 37% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $7,664 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,376, equal to roughly 97.7% 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.
Looking at all undergraduates at UofL, freshmen included, 32% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $6,533 each per year. That is 21.5% more than the first-year federal average of $5,376.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,066 by year two and around $26,132 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 32% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,533 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,548 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $29,710,009 |
The middle borrower at UofL owes $13,750 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,600 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for UofL.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,000 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $24,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,373 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at UofL.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for UofL.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1848 | $16,966 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1033 | $20,717 |
| Did not complete | 815 | $14,554 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $246.35/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at UofL.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1807 | $17,200 |
| No Stafford loan | 41 | $14,100 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1495 | $18,702 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 353 | $12,550 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. UofL.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for UofL is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4142 |
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 | $13,840 |
| Middle income | $13,000 |
| High income | $14,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,000 |
| Independent students | $16,750 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UofL.
Subsidized vs. 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.