by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend University of Nebraska at Kearney: 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.
Looking at the entering class at UNK, 40% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $6,406 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,056, amounting to 91.9% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at UNK, freshmen included, 36% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $5,957 in federal loans per year. This works out to 17.8% higher than the $5,056 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $11,914 after two years and $23,828 by the fourth year. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 36% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,957 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,495 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $8,906,258 |
The middle borrower at UNK owes $13,070 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,070 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
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 UNK.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $24,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,500 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at UNK.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for UNK.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 937 | $13,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 455 | $14,457 |
| Did not complete | 482 | $12,391 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $171.91/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 UNK.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 926 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 11 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 737 | $12,843 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 200 | $14,364 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UNK.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for UNK appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1345 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $13,350 |
| Middle income | $12,000 |
| High income | $14,230 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,000 |
| Independent students | $13,433 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UNK.
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.