by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend University of Southern Mississippi, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Southern Miss specifically, 52% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $6,717 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,156, or about 93.7% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
For undergraduates overall at Southern Miss, 48% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $6,675 a year. That amounts to 29.5% higher than the $5,156 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,350 over two years and about $26,700 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 48% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,675 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,780 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $31,904,884 |
The median student at Southern Miss borrows $14,250 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
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 Southern Miss.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,625 |
| 25th percentile | $6,500 |
| 75th percentile | $29,066 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $41,278 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Southern Miss.
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 Southern Miss.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1667 | $13,586 |
| Completed (graduates) | 775 | $14,301 |
| Did not complete | 892 | $13,211 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $170.05/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 Southern Miss.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1626 | $13,684 |
| No Stafford loan | 41 | $7,898 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1489 | $13,675 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 178 | $11,677 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Southern Miss.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Southern Miss is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4399 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $14,550 |
| Middle income | $14,000 |
| High income | $14,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,291 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,000 |
| Independent students | $18,474 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Southern Miss.
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
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.