by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of Maine— 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.
Looking at the entering class at UMaine, 55% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $9,576 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,221, amounting to 94.9% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at UMaine (freshmen included), 47% finance part of their studies with federal loans, borrowing on average $6,306 a year. That is 20.8% more than the $5,221 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,612 in two years and roughly $25,224 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 | 47% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,306 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 3,932 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $24,795,090 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at UMaine carry a median federal debt of $16,750 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
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 UMaine.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $6,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,300 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at UMaine.
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 UMaine.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1317 | $17,647 |
| Completed (graduates) | 647 | $21,900 |
| Did not complete | 670 | $14,313 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $260.41/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 UMaine.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1296 | $17,862 |
| No Stafford loan | 21 | $14,316 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1087 | $18,910 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 230 | $12,558 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for UMaine.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for UMaine follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2430 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,500 |
| Middle income | $17,500 |
| High income | $16,760 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,490 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $16,750 |
| Independent students | $16,841 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at UMaine.
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.
Did You Know?
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.