by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of Montevallo, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Montevallo specifically, 55% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $6,640 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,191, amounting to 94.4% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. 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 Montevallo, 51% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $6,479 each per year. That amounts to 24.8% higher than the $5,191 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,958 in two years and roughly $25,916 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 | 51% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,479 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,055 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,835,081 |
The middle borrower at Montevallo owes $16,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $24,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,000 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Montevallo.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $6,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $36,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Montevallo.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Montevallo.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 354 | $18,768 |
| Completed (graduates) | 122 | $23,233 |
| Did not complete | 232 | $15,773 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $276.27/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Montevallo.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 331 | $19,300 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 23 | $9,654 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Montevallo.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Montevallo appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 718 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,745 |
| Middle income | $19,500 |
| High income | $14,625 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,800 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,372 |
| Independent students | $18,750 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Montevallo.
Subsidized vs. 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.