by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Washington & Jefferson College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At W&J specifically, 71% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $11,076 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,613. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the 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 W&J (freshmen included), 70% take out federal student loans, averaging $6,660 annually. That amounts to 18.7% more than the $5,613 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,320 over two years and about $26,640 after four. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 70% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,660 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 805 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,361,537 |
The median student at W&J borrows $26,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $26,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 W&J.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $13,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 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 W&J.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at W&J.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 225 | $43,162 |
| Completed (graduates) | 171 | $53,440 |
| Did not complete | 54 | $22,027 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $635.46/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at W&J.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 215 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 215 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 10 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. W&J.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for W&J follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 384 |
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 | $26,437 |
| Middle income | $26,000 |
| High income | $25,250 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $26,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $25,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for W&J.
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.