by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Wartburg College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Wartburg, 68% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $8,824 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,458, or about 99.2% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Wartburg, 68% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $6,503 annually. That amounts to 19.1% larger than the $5,458 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,006 across two years and $26,012 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 68% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,503 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 976 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,346,712 |
The middle borrower at Wartburg owes $19,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Wartburg.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $10,125 |
| 75th percentile | $27,518 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Wartburg.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Wartburg.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 164 | $21,184 |
| Completed (graduates) | 96 | $27,152 |
| Did not complete | 68 | $14,502 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $322.87/mo.
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Wartburg.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Wartburg is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 447 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $13,564 |
| Middle income | $19,500 |
| High income | $21,375 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,337 |
| Continuing-generation students | $22,742 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Wartburg.
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.
Did You Know?
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.