by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at Pitt Johnstown, 56% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $8,742 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,153, which is 93.7% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at Pitt Johnstown, 58% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $6,103 per year. That is 18.4% higher than the $5,153 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,206 across two years and $24,412 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 58% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,103 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,116 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,810,906 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Pitt Johnstown carry a median federal debt of $20,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $20,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $24,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
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 Pitt Johnstown.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $9,750 |
| 75th percentile | $28,150 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,438 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Pitt Johnstown.
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 Pitt Johnstown.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 3593 | $29,237 |
| Completed (graduates) | 2569 | $35,031 |
| Did not complete | 1024 | $20,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $416.56/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Pitt Johnstown.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 3557 | $29,400 |
| No Stafford loan | 36 | $18,703 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 3220 | $30,006 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 373 | $21,776 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Pitt Johnstown.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Pitt Johnstown follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 8077 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,500 |
| Middle income | $20,500 |
| High income | $20,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $20,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $20,500 |
| Independent students | $20,036 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Pitt Johnstown.
The Difference Between 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
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.