by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of Mary Hardin-Baylor— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at UMHB, 67% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $7,157 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,610. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at UMHB, 62% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $6,787 annually. It comes to 21.0% above the $5,610 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,574 in two years and roughly $27,148 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 62% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,787 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,836 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $12,461,522 |
The median student at UMHB borrows $15,750 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 UMHB.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $6,250 |
| 75th percentile | $29,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $37,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UMHB.
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 UMHB.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 937 | $22,524 |
| Completed (graduates) | 480 | $34,374 |
| Did not complete | 457 | $15,500 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $408.74/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 UMHB.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 920 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 17 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 900 | $22,980 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 37 | $12,000 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for UMHB.
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 UMHB is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 837 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,000 |
| Middle income | $15,595 |
| High income | $16,750 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,038 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $18,750 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at UMHB.
Subsidized and 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.
Did You Know?
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.