by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Williams College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Williams specifically, 8% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $10,614 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,187, or about 94.3% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Looking at all undergraduates at Williams, freshmen included, 5% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $6,175 each per year. That is 19.0% more than the $5,187 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,350 across two years and $24,700 by the fourth year. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 5% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,175 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 102 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $629,872 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Williams carry a median federal debt of $11,667 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $11,667 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,761 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,000 |
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 Williams.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,450 |
| 25th percentile | $6,719 |
| 75th percentile | $19,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Williams.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Williams.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 61 | $31,178 |
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Williams.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 50 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 11 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Williams.
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 Williams follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 167 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,043 |
| Middle income | $7,950 |
| High income | $13,203 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Williams.
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.
Important to Remember
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.