by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend University of Wisconsin-Parkside— 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.
Looking at the entering class at UW - Parkside, 40% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $5,816 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $4,999, which is 90.9% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at UW - Parkside, 39% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $6,471 per year. This is 29.4% greater than the $4,999 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,942 over two years and about $25,884 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 39% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,471 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,164 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,532,642 |
The middle borrower at UW - Parkside owes $14,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,492 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,751 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for UW - Parkside.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,890 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,675 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $37,261 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at UW - Parkside.
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 UW - Parkside.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 385 | $12,476 |
| Completed (graduates) | 182 | $13,139 |
| Did not complete | 203 | $12,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $156.24/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at UW - Parkside.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 330 | $11,593 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 55 | $17,670 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. UW - Parkside.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for UW - Parkside appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1341 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,250 |
| Middle income | $13,750 |
| High income | $14,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,942 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,750 |
| Independent students | $18,577 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at UW - Parkside.
The Difference Between 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
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.