by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Washington University in St Louis: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At WUSTL, 7% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, at roughly $10,843 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,054, which is 91.9% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Across the full undergraduate body at WUSTL (freshmen included), 12% take out federal student loans, averaging $6,271 each per year. It comes to 24.1% above the $5,054 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,542 after two years and $25,084 over a four-year span. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 12% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,271 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 972 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,095,080 |
The median student at WUSTL borrows $15,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $17,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for WUSTL.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $10,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,610 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at WUSTL.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for WUSTL.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 686 | $22,229 |
| Completed (graduates) | 468 | $24,585 |
| Did not complete | 218 | $18,014 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $292.34/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at WUSTL.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 667 | $22,158 |
| No Stafford loan | 19 | $26,847 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 414 | $25,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 272 | $18,287 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. WUSTL.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for WUSTL follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1731 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $9,459 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $17,415 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,999 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $16,662 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at WUSTL.
Subsidized vs. 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.
Worth Knowing
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.