by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of Mount Union, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Mount Union, 87% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $8,752 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,603. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at Mount Union, 82% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $6,577 annually. That amounts to 17.4% above the freshman federal average of $5,603.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,154 in two years and roughly $26,308 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 82% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,577 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,471 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $9,674,129 |
The middle borrower at Mount Union owes $20,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $20,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Mount Union.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $9,500 |
| 75th percentile | $28,290 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,585 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Mount Union.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Mount Union.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 449 | $25,314 |
| Completed (graduates) | 273 | $38,000 |
| Did not complete | 176 | $18,617 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $451.86/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 Mount Union.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 435 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 14 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Mount Union.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Mount Union follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 615 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,500 |
| Middle income | $20,500 |
| High income | $22,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,750 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $20,500 |
| Independent students | $20,658 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Mount Union.
The Difference Between 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.
Did You Know?
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.