Student Debt at Eight Colleges: Borrower Averages and Monthly Costs

Compare the share of graduates who borrowed and the average amount among those borrowers together. In the eight-college comparison below, the reported borrowing share ranges from 11% to 31%, while mean student-loan principal among borrowers ranges from $18,653 to $41,297. Those two measures reveal more than either one alone.

Start with this historical comparison, then build a personal borrowing estimate from the college’s aid offer, your available resources, and the time needed to finish. Record parent borrowing separately so the family’s full financing commitment remains visible.

Comparable figures from eight colleges

These values come from section H5, row A, of each institution’s 2025–26 Common Data Set. The underlying graduates received bachelor’s degrees between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025 and originally entered that institution as first-time students.

Percentages retain the precision published by each university. Public-university rows include the institution’s defined cohort across residency categories. For shopping, start with your resident tuition and individual aid estimate, then use these borrowing results to identify financing questions to ask.

What this definition includes and leaves out

The Common Data Set instructions include student loans borrowed while enrolled at the institution, including loans with a cosigner. They exclude parent loans, borrowing at other institutions, transfer entrants and students who did not complete a bachelor’s degree in the specified cohort.

Keep student debt, parent debt, and borrowing at other institutions in separate columns in your family budget. The CDS table covers first-time entrants who completed the specified bachelor’s cohort; use your own loan records to track a transfer path or interrupted enrollment.

The dollar column is cumulative principal borrowed, not necessarily the outstanding balance on graduation day. Interest, payments already made and later borrowing can produce a different balance.

Label the figure “mean cumulative principal among borrowers” in your comparison sheet. Add the borrower share beside it so you can distinguish a small borrowing group from a college where borrowing is more common.

Federal borrowing is a different comparison

Section H5, row B, reports federal student loans separately:

College	Federal-loan borrowers in the defined cohort	Mean federal principal among those federal borrowers
UC Berkeley	1,608	$13,659
UC San Diego	1,991	$15,152
Yale	192	$12,860
Princeton	61	$12,304
Georgia Tech	1,138	$18,587
Stanford	252	$12,785
Michigan, Ann Arbor	2,130	$17,980
MIT	116	$15,221

Use the federal row for the federal borrower group and the any-loan row for students using any reported source. Some students appear in several loan categories. To examine private borrowing, read row E directly rather than subtracting averages with different borrower counts.

MIT illustrates this clearly. Its report lists 142 borrowers in the any-loan row but 116 in the federal row. It separately reports 44 private-loan borrowers with mean private principal of $91,626. A relatively small group with substantial private borrowing can affect an overall borrower average.

Michigan shows a similar reason to inspect loan sources: its report lists 440 private-loan borrowers averaging $58,285, compared with 2,130 federal borrowers averaging $17,980. When comparing offers, ask how much of your proposed funding comes from federal, institutional, and private loans.

Why a no-loan school can report graduate debt

A no-loan policy describes the institution’s need-based aid package. Students or parents can still choose loans to cover an assessed contribution or other expenses.

Princeton meets demonstrated need with grants, while its CDS reports 144 student borrowers. A grant-based offer can still leave an assessed family contribution to fund. Check that contribution and your available resources before deciding whether to borrow.

Compare the offer you receive. Identify grants, student earnings, student loans and parent loans separately. The school’s graduate debt statistic is context; it cannot replace that offer.

MIT reports a 13% borrower share and a $41,297 average among borrowers; Michigan reports 31% and $29,244. MIT has the smaller borrowing share but the higher borrower average. Use both measures when comparing colleges, then test your own planned principal and monthly payment against your budget.

Translate a repayment balance into monthly payments

Federal undergraduate Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans first disbursed July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027 carry a fixed 6.52% rate. The table applies that published rate to several repayment balances over 120 equal monthly payments, using a standard monthly amortization calculation. Federal Student Aid rate notice.

Balance entering repayment	Estimated monthly payment	Total interest over 10 years
$15,000	$170.47	$5,456.96
$30,000	$340.95	$10,913.92
$45,000	$511.42	$16,370.87
$60,000	$681.90	$21,827.83

The formula uses monthly rate r = 0.0652 ÷ 12, n = 120, and payment balance × r ÷ [1 − (1 + r)⁻ⁿ]. Displayed payments are rounded to cents; total interest uses the unrounded calculation.

Use each loan’s actual rate and balance when planning repayment. Loans from earlier years can have different rates, and accrued interest can increase the repayment balance. Federal loans accrue interest daily, so billing dates and payment timing can change the precise total from this monthly estimate.

Compare the calculated payment with the repayment plans available for your loans. Then put the expected payment beside take-home income and essential monthly expenses before accepting additional borrowing.

Build the borrowing estimate from an actual offer

For each academic year, start with the attendance cost and subtract grants and scholarships. Then subtract money the family can realistically contribute and confirmed student resources. The remainder is a funding gap, not automatically an available loan.

Consider this hypothetical annual plan:

• Attendance cost: $42,000.
• Grants and scholarships: $17,000.
• Net price: $25,000.
• Family contribution from income and savings: $12,000.
• Planned student earnings: $3,000.
• Remaining gap: $10,000.

A repeated $10,000 gap totals $40,000 over four years before cost changes, fees, or interest. A dependent undergraduate’s ordinary Direct Loan annual limits—$5,500, $6,500, $7,500, and $7,500—total $27,000 over those four years, leaving $13,000 to solve through other resources or a lower-cost plan. Eligibility, remaining limits, and the actual award still govern the available loans. Federal loan-limit guidance.

Use the student loan limits guide to check student and parent programs. Confirm the full four-year funding plan before paying an enrollment deposit, especially if private credit or parent borrowing would fill a recurring gap.

Test the budget without a salary shortcut

Estimate monthly take-home income for the intended job and location. Subtract housing, utilities, food, transportation, insurance, family obligations, other debt payments, and a reserve for irregular expenses. Compare what remains with the proposed student-loan payment.

Run a less favorable case with lower initial earnings or several months between graduation and employment. Use the same method for a parent borrower, considering that person’s income and other obligations separately.

If your planned borrowing is substantially above the college’s historical average, ask the aid office about grants, lower-cost housing, and ways to reduce the remaining course schedule. Compare at least one offer with a smaller funding gap.

Keep a comparison record you can update

Save the report year, graduate cohort, loan category, borrower count and average beside each college. Use the newest public report available, but do not silently combine different cohort definitions.

For your own offer, keep separate totals for student principal, parent principal and any private borrowing. Record rates and conditions from the actual loan documents rather than applying one generic rate to everything.

Compare a lower-cost offer, additional grant aid and a different housing plan before filling every gap with loans. Our full-need college guide and financial aid guide explain the aid side of that comparison.

Sources

• UC Berkeley: 2025–26 Common Data Set, H4–H5.
• UC San Diego: 2025–26 financial aid section, H4–H5.
• Yale: 2025–26 Common Data Set, H4–H5.
• Michigan, Ann Arbor: 2025–26 Common Data Set, H4–H5.
• Princeton: 2025–26 Common Data Set, H4–H5.
• Georgia Tech: 2025–26 Common Data Set, revision 4, H4–H5.
• Stanford: official Common Data Set reports — 2025–26 report, H4–H5.
• MIT: 2025–26 Common Data Set, H4–H5.
• Princeton: grant-based financial aid policy.
• Federal Student Aid: 2026–27 Direct Loan rates.