by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Villanova University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at Villanova, 35% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $12,050 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,283, which is 96.1% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. 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 Villanova (freshmen included), 35% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $6,738 per year. This is 27.5% greater than the $5,283 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,476 in two years and roughly $26,952 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 35% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,738 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,472 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $16,656,741 |
The middle borrower at Villanova owes $25,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $25,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,874 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,712 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Villanova.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,562 |
| 25th percentile | $13,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,628 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Villanova.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Villanova.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1055 | $36,599 |
| Completed (graduates) | 815 | $40,000 |
| Did not complete | 240 | $27,893 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $475.64/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Villanova.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1044 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 11 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 783 | $39,639 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 272 | $29,890 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Villanova.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Villanova follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1657 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $25,000 |
| Middle income | $25,000 |
| High income | $24,966 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $25,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $23,961 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $25,000 |
| Independent students | $25,000 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Villanova.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.