by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend University of the Pacific, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Pacific specifically, 43% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, averaging $6,966 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,192, or about 94.4% 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.
Across the full undergraduate body at Pacific (freshmen included), 41% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $6,592 each per year. This works out to 27.0% more than the $5,192 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,184 after two years and $26,368 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 | 41% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,592 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,326 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $8,741,039 |
The middle borrower at Pacific owes $17,653 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,653 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $12,000 |
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 Pacific.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $10,219 |
| 75th percentile | $30,281 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $40,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Pacific.
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 Pacific.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 929 | $45,450 |
| Completed (graduates) | 636 | $50,438 |
| Did not complete | 293 | $37,810 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $599.76/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Pacific.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 901 | $45,500 |
| No Stafford loan | 28 | $39,463 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 873 | $47,181 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 56 | $28,681 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Pacific.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Pacific follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1625 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,500 |
| Middle income | $18,000 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $18,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,750 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $16,250 |
| Independent students | $25,000 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Pacific.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
Did You Know?
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.