by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Worcester 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 Worcester State specifically, 61% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, at roughly $7,290 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $4,774, or about 86.8% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at Worcester State, freshmen included, 53% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $5,560 in federal loans per year. It comes to 16.5% more than the $4,774 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $11,120 over two years and about $22,240 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 | 53% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,560 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,092 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $11,631,329 |
The middle borrower at Worcester State owes $13,916 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,916 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
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 Worcester State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,250 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $22,525 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $28,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Worcester State.
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 Worcester State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 747 | $17,924 |
| Completed (graduates) | 292 | $17,518 |
| Did not complete | 455 | $18,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $208.31/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Worcester State.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 527 | $16,019 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 220 | $22,250 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Worcester State.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Worcester State follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1028 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $11,879 |
| Middle income | $14,051 |
| High income | $14,950 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,903 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,925 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,250 |
| Independent students | $11,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Worcester State.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
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.