by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend University of Minnesota-Crookston: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at UMN Crookston, 48% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, averaging $8,168 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,145, equal to roughly 93.5% 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.
Counting every undergraduate at UMN Crookston, 40% take out federal student loans, at an average of $6,878 each per year. This works out to 33.7% greater than the freshman federal average of $5,145.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,756 over two years and about $27,512 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 40% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,878 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 659 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,532,783 |
The middle borrower at UMN Crookston owes $12,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for UMN Crookston.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $6,250 |
| 75th percentile | $23,432 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,231 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at UMN Crookston.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for UMN Crookston.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 171 | $10,823 |
| Completed (graduates) | 82 | $11,092 |
| Did not complete | 89 | $10,542 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $131.9/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at UMN Crookston.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 139 | $11,189 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 32 | $9,384 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. UMN Crookston.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for UMN Crookston follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 382 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,500 |
| Middle income | $12,500 |
| High income | $13,548 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,866 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,352 |
| Independent students | $13,811 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at UMN Crookston.
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?
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.