by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Vassar College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Vassar, 42% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $5,970 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federal loan is $3,758, equal to roughly 68.3% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Looking at all undergraduates at Vassar, freshmen included, 39% take out federal student loans, averaging $4,849 in federal loans per year. That is 29.0% more than the $3,758 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $9,698 across two years and $19,396 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 39% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,849 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,003 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,863,828 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Vassar carry a median federal debt of $17,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $17,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $18,625 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
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 Vassar.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,250 |
| 25th percentile | $7,450 |
| 75th percentile | $20,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $24,350 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Vassar.
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 Vassar.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 87 | $44,501 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Vassar.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Vassar follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 325 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,851 |
| Middle income | $15,597 |
| High income | $19,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Vassar.
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?
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.