by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at UW - Eau Claire, 51% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $7,919 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $4,926, amounting to 89.6% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at UW - Eau Claire, 44% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $5,865 in federal loans per year. That is 19.1% higher than the freshman federal average of $4,926.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $11,730 in two years and roughly $23,460 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 44% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,865 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 3,915 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $22,959,746 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at UW - Eau Claire carry a median federal debt of $13,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,909 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,830 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for UW - Eau Claire.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $26,631 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at UW - Eau Claire.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for UW - Eau Claire.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 500 | $11,300 |
| Completed (graduates) | 238 | $12,452 |
| Did not complete | 262 | $10,042 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $148.07/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 UW - Eau Claire.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 435 | $11,025 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 65 | $13,900 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. UW - Eau Claire.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for UW - Eau Claire appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2241 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $10,443 |
| Middle income | $12,929 |
| High income | $14,250 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,700 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,000 |
| Independent students | $12,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UW - Eau Claire.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
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.