by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend University of Puerto Rico-Carolina— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At UPR Carolina specifically, 3% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $2,704 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $2,704, which is 49.2% 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.
Looking at all undergraduates at UPR Carolina, freshmen included, 4% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $3,474 in federal loans per year. This works out to 28.5% greater than the $2,704 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $6,948 after two years and $13,896 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 4% |
| Average federal loan per year | $3,474 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 82 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $284,832 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at UPR Carolina carry a median federal debt of $4,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $4,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $5,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,500 |
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 UPR Carolina.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,834 |
| 25th percentile | $3,000 |
| 75th percentile | $5,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $9,916 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at UPR Carolina.
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UPR Carolina.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for UPR Carolina follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 12 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $4,500 |
| Middle income | $4,500 |
| High income | $4,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $4,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $4,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,500 |
| Independent students | $4,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UPR Carolina.
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
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.