by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend University of Michigan-Ann Arbor: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At U-M, 24% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $9,903 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,291, representing 96.2% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at U-M (freshmen included), 24% finance part of their studies with federal loans, borrowing on average $6,114 a year. This works out to 15.6% higher than the $5,291 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,228 across two years and $24,456 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 24% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,114 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 7,995 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $48,883,967 |
The middle borrower at U-M owes $17,625 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,625 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,110 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at U-M.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,700 |
| 25th percentile | $9,530 |
| 75th percentile | $25,700 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,276 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at U-M.
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 U-M.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2233 | $29,859 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1956 | $30,250 |
| Did not complete | 277 | $26,122 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $359.7/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at U-M.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2166 | $29,657 |
| No Stafford loan | 67 | $43,932 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1875 | $30,200 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 358 | $25,971 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at U-M.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for U-M follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5496 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
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 | $12,042 |
| Middle income | $16,000 |
| High income | $19,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,646 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,000 |
| Independent students | $11,120 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for U-M.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
Important to Remember
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.