by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Westfield State University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Westfield specifically, 54% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $7,764 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,223, or about 95.0% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at Westfield, 55% take out federal student loans, for a typical $6,234 annually. It comes to 19.4% greater than the $5,223 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,468 across two years and $24,936 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 55% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,234 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,915 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $11,938,236 |
The middle borrower at Westfield owes $15,250 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,457 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,735 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Westfield.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,751 |
| 25th percentile | $5,710 |
| 75th percentile | $26,261 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Westfield.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at Westfield.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 635 | $15,185 |
| Completed (graduates) | 345 | $18,544 |
| Did not complete | 290 | $12,729 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $220.51/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 Westfield.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 556 | $15,659 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 79 | $12,855 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Westfield.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Westfield is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1331 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $13,687 |
| Middle income | $15,250 |
| High income | $17,126 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,212 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,250 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $16,533 |
| Independent students | $11,193 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Westfield.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
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.