by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of Massachusetts-Boston: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at UMass Boston, 57% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $7,538 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,002, or about 90.9% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at UMass Boston, 53% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $6,456 annually. This works out to 29.1% higher than the $5,002 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,912 by year two and around $25,824 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 53% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,456 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 6,237 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $40,265,272 |
The median student at UMass Boston borrows $15,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,974 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,332 |
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 UMass Boston.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,000 |
| 75th percentile | $26,407 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,324 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UMass Boston.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at UMass Boston.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1368 | $16,534 |
| Completed (graduates) | 554 | $17,163 |
| Did not complete | 814 | $16,067 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $204.09/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at UMass Boston.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1358 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 993 | $15,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 375 | $21,802 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for UMass Boston.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for UMass Boston follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3194 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,250 |
| Middle income | $15,409 |
| High income | $13,750 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,884 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,750 |
| Independent students | $21,499 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at UMass Boston.
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
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.