by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of Maryland-College Park, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at UMCP, 23% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $9,844 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $5,131, representing 93.3% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at UMCP, 22% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $6,188 each per year. This is 20.6% more than the $5,131 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,376 over two years and about $24,752 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 | 22% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,188 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 6,588 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $40,765,008 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at UMCP carry a median federal debt of $17,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,000 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for UMCP.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,500 |
| 25th percentile | $8,000 |
| 75th percentile | $25,871 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $30,376 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UMCP.
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 UMCP.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2738 | $31,768 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1816 | $35,200 |
| Did not complete | 922 | $24,475 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $418.57/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at UMCP.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2635 | $31,806 |
| No Stafford loan | 103 | $30,000 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2084 | $33,871 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 654 | $26,124 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UMCP.
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 UMCP appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5004 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,125 |
| Middle income | $16,490 |
| High income | $17,750 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,250 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $16,750 |
| Independent students | $18,342 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at UMCP.
The Difference Between 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.
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.