by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Wellesley College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Wellesley specifically, 24% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $5,240 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $3,820, which is 69.5% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at Wellesley, freshmen included, 17% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $4,719 each per year. This works out to 23.5% greater than the first-year federal average of $3,820.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $9,438 over two years and about $18,876 by the fourth year. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 17% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,719 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 390 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,840,431 |
The median student at Wellesley borrows $8,700 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,700 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Wellesley.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,634 |
| 25th percentile | $5,204 |
| 75th percentile | $15,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $21,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Wellesley.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Wellesley.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 75 | $38,825 |
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Wellesley.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 65 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 10 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Wellesley.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Wellesley follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 232 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,468 |
| Middle income | $7,000 |
| High income | $10,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,145 |
| Continuing-generation students | $10,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $8,700 |
| Independent students | $6,297 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Wellesley.
Subsidized vs. 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.
Important to Remember
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.