by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Westminster College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Westminster New Wilmington, 78% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $8,533 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,511. This reaches or tops the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap for a typical dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Westminster New Wilmington, 74% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $6,557 a year. It comes to 19.0% higher than the $5,511 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,114 across two years and $26,228 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 | 74% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,557 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 774 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,075,374 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Westminster New Wilmington carry a median federal debt of $22,825 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $22,825 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,060 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
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 Westminster New Wilmington.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,250 |
| 25th percentile | $10,500 |
| 75th percentile | $30,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Westminster New Wilmington.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Westminster New Wilmington.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 197 | $22,900 |
| Completed (graduates) | 121 | $26,086 |
| Did not complete | 76 | $15,960 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $310.19/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Westminster New Wilmington.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 182 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 15 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Westminster New Wilmington.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Westminster New Wilmington is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 342 |
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 | $20,125 |
| Middle income | $22,874 |
| High income | $23,250 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $23,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $22,006 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Westminster New Wilmington.
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
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.