by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend University of Oregon, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at UO, 38% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $8,508 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,166, amounting to 93.9% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at UO (freshmen included), 30% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $6,351 in federal loans per year. This works out to 22.9% more than the first-year federal average of $5,166.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,702 by year two and around $25,404 over a four-year span. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 30% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,351 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 5,847 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $37,134,508 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at UO carry a median federal debt of $15,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,139 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,667 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for UO.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,666 |
| 25th percentile | $6,870 |
| 75th percentile | $25,914 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at UO.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at UO.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 3193 | $38,271 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2030 | $44,405 |
| Did not complete | 1163 | $29,088 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $528.02/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 UO.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 3013 | $38,710 |
| No Stafford loan | 180 | $35,157 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2843 | $39,978 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 350 | $25,620 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. UO.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for UO follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3766 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,822 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $14,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,769 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,666 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,167 |
| Independent students | $20,333 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UO.
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.
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.