by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Western Kentucky University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at WKU, 46% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $7,267 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,279, amounting to 96.0% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at WKU (freshmen included), 41% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $6,494 each per year. It comes to 23.0% above the first-year federal average of $5,279.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,988 in two years and roughly $25,976 by the fourth year. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 41% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,494 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 5,057 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $32,842,558 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at WKU carry a median federal debt of $14,702 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $14,702 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,095 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,343 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 WKU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,007 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $39,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at WKU.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for WKU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2257 | $14,657 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1141 | $18,310 |
| Did not complete | 1116 | $12,081 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $217.73/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at WKU.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 2214 | $14,709 |
| No Stafford loan | 43 | $12,490 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 2099 | $14,829 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 158 | $11,609 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for WKU.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for WKU appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5245 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
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 | $14,250 |
| Middle income | $14,750 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,611 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,737 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,250 |
| Independent students | $15,749 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for WKU.
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.
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.