by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend University of Wisconsin-Superior: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at UW - Superior, 42% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $6,413 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $4,979, representing 90.5% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at UW - Superior (freshmen included), 48% take out federal student loans, borrowing on average $7,068 a year. That amounts to 42.0% higher than the $4,979 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $14,136 over two years and about $28,272 over a four-year span. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 48% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,068 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 906 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,403,654 |
The middle borrower at UW - Superior owes $14,055 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,055 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,767 |
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 - Superior.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,650 |
| 25th percentile | $6,795 |
| 75th percentile | $27,143 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $36,218 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at UW - Superior.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at UW - Superior.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 219 | $10,827 |
| Completed (graduates) | 98 | $12,006 |
| Did not complete | 121 | $10,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $142.76/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at UW - Superior.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 190 | $10,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 29 | $16,412 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UW - Superior.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for UW - Superior is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 837 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $13,830 |
| Middle income | $15,321 |
| High income | $14,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,583 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,000 |
| Independent students | $17,374 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at UW - Superior.
Subsidized vs. 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.
Worth Knowing
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.