by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of North Carolina at Charlotte, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at UNC Charlotte, 45% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $7,853 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,389, which is 98.0% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at UNC Charlotte, 40% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $6,359 annually. This works out to 18.0% higher than the first-year federal average of $5,389.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,718 after two years and $25,436 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 40% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,359 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 9,403 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $59,791,821 |
The median student at UNC Charlotte borrows $16,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,500 |
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 UNC Charlotte.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,914 |
| 25th percentile | $7,000 |
| 75th percentile | $26,700 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,625 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at UNC Charlotte.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at UNC Charlotte.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 3221 | $18,150 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2067 | $19,809 |
| Did not complete | 1154 | $16,461 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $235.55/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 UNC Charlotte.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 3177 | $18,112 |
| No Stafford loan | 44 | $21,504 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2710 | $18,103 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 511 | $18,210 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UNC Charlotte.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for UNC Charlotte is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4899 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $17,377 |
| Middle income | $16,250 |
| High income | $15,750 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,275 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,929 |
| Independent students | $18,750 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UNC Charlotte.
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.
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.