by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for West Virginia State University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at WVSU, 47% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $7,134 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $7,134. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at WVSU (freshmen included), 45% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $7,956 each per year. That amounts to 11.5% above the $7,134 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $15,912 by year two and around $31,824 after four. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 45% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,956 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 596 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,742,024 |
The middle borrower at WVSU owes $15,250 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,338 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at WVSU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $23,534 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $36,918 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at WVSU.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at WVSU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 337 | $12,507 |
| Completed (graduates) | 138 | $13,810 |
| Did not complete | 199 | $12,042 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $164.22/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at WVSU.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 276 | $12,568 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 61 | $11,067 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at WVSU.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for WVSU is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 925 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,250 |
| Middle income | $16,482 |
| High income | $14,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,577 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,750 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,000 |
| Independent students | $19,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at WVSU.
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.
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.