by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Wilkes University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at Wilkes, 80% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $10,492 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,251, or about 95.5% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at Wilkes (freshmen included), 75% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $6,468 annually. This works out to 23.2% more than the $5,251 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,936 by year two and around $25,872 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 75% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,468 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,417 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $9,165,571 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Wilkes carry a median federal debt of $20,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $20,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,560 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Wilkes.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,500 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Wilkes.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Wilkes.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 977 | $24,792 |
| Completed (graduates) | 497 | $29,898 |
| Did not complete | 480 | $20,489 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $355.52/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 Wilkes.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 549 | $29,333 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 428 | $20,683 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Wilkes.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Wilkes appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 902 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $19,500 |
| Middle income | $21,500 |
| High income | $20,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $21,275 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,870 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $21,250 |
| Independent students | $20,250 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Wilkes.
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.
Did You Know?
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.