by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend University of the Cumberlands: 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 Cumberlands, 60% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $5,410 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $4,860, equal to roughly 88.4% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at Cumberlands, freshmen included, 75% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $3,293 per year. That amounts to 32.2% smaller than the $4,860 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $6,586 over two years and about $13,172 by the fourth year. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 75% |
| Average federal loan per year | $3,293 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,143 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $13,644,623 |
The middle borrower at Cumberlands owes $8,592 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,592 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $14,911 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
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 Cumberlands.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,180 |
| 25th percentile | $4,000 |
| 75th percentile | $18,644 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Cumberlands.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Cumberlands.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1288 | $10,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 726 | $11,623 |
| Did not complete | 562 | $8,191 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $138.21/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 Cumberlands.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 903 | $9,660 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 385 | $11,015 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Cumberlands.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Cumberlands is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 858 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $7,773 |
| Middle income | $9,112 |
| High income | $9,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,432 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,475 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $9,500 |
| Independent students | $8,116 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Cumberlands.
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.
Did You Know?
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.