by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Valparaiso University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Valpo, 54% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, with a typical loan of $8,051 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,355, or about 97.4% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at Valpo (freshmen included), 52% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $6,691 per year. That amounts to 24.9% above the $5,355 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,382 in two years and roughly $26,764 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 52% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,691 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,171 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,835,642 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Valpo carry a median federal debt of $22,133 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $22,133 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,942 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,751 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Valpo.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $11,500 |
| 75th percentile | $30,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,750 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Valpo.
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 Valpo.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 461 | $23,750 |
| Completed (graduates) | 329 | $28,500 |
| Did not complete | 132 | $15,698 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $338.9/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 Valpo.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 444 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 17 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Valpo.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Valpo is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1009 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $22,500 |
| Middle income | $22,500 |
| High income | $21,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $22,148 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,998 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $22,125 |
| Independent students | $22,154 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Valpo.
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.
Important to Remember
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.