by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for University of Notre Dame— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Notre Dame, 25% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $7,950 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $4,034, which is 73.3% 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.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Notre Dame, 25% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $5,574 per year. This works out to 38.2% greater than the $4,034 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $11,148 over two years and about $22,296 after four. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 25% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,574 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,212 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $12,329,103 |
The median student at Notre Dame borrows $19,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,000 |
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 Notre Dame.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $6,000 |
| 25th percentile | $13,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,350 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Notre Dame.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Notre Dame.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 654 | $38,321 |
| Completed (graduates) | 611 | $40,731 |
| Did not complete | 43 | $26,603 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $484.33/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Notre Dame.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 628 | $37,355 |
| No Stafford loan | 26 | $75,911 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 511 | $39,747 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 143 | $33,800 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Notre Dame.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Notre Dame is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1667 |
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 | $14,260 |
| Middle income | $17,500 |
| High income | $19,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Notre Dame.
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.
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.