by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of Mississippi: 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.
Among first-year students at Ole Miss, 37% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $11,439 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $5,222, which is 94.9% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Counting every undergraduate at Ole Miss, 37% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $5,407 per year. It comes to 3.5% more than the $5,222 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $10,814 by year two and around $21,628 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 37% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,407 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 7,097 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $38,369,952 |
The median student at Ole Miss borrows $15,250 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,490 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Ole Miss.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $6,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,986 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Ole Miss.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Ole Miss.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2314 | $25,875 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1484 | $29,387 |
| Did not complete | 830 | $20,592 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $349.44/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 Ole Miss.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2252 | $25,934 |
| No Stafford loan | 62 | $23,516 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2138 | $27,183 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 176 | $13,702 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Ole Miss.
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 Ole Miss follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3201 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,500 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,088 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,750 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $17,711 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Ole Miss.
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
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.