by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of North Alabama: 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.
At UNA specifically, 48% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $6,425 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,132, representing 93.3% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Across the full undergraduate body at UNA (freshmen included), 44% take out federal student loans, averaging $6,551 annually. This is 27.7% above the $5,132 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,102 in two years and roughly $26,204 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 | 44% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,551 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,404 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $15,748,467 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at UNA carry a median federal debt of $15,781 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,781 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,077 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,652 |
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 UNA.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,018 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,944 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at UNA.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at UNA.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 856 | $16,168 |
| Completed (graduates) | 415 | $18,000 |
| Did not complete | 441 | $15,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $214.04/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at UNA.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 841 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 15 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 706 | $16,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 150 | $16,752 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for UNA.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for UNA follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1477 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,250 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $16,799 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,022 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $16,000 |
| Independent students | $15,750 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at UNA.
Subsidized vs. 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.
Important to Remember
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.