Student loans at University of California, Santa Barbara: who borrows, and who pays it back
18% of students borrow federal loans, and 75% of borrowers are paying their balance down three years after leaving.
The typical repayment is $148 a month. That places University of California, Santa Barbara 253 of 891 US universities on repayment.
What the repayment figure means
Strong: most borrowers are paying their balance down, not just holding it.
The Department of Education stopped publishing default rates — every institution now reports zero — so the
honest measure left is the declining-balance rate: the share of borrowers whose balance is
lower three years after they left than the day they started repaying. A borrower can be in good standing
and still owe more than they started with, through interest on a paused or income-driven plan; this figure
counts only those actually reducing the debt.
Paying it down75%3 years after leaving
Students who borrow18%federal loans
Median debt$13,993at graduation
Monthly repayment$148standard plan
Against the national picture
0%national median 65%100%
University of California, Santa Barbara sits above the national median of 65%.
Repayment tracks two things far more than institutional prestige: how much students borrowed in the first
place, and what they earn afterwards. A university with modest earnings but very low borrowing often
out-performs a famous one whose graduates leave with large balances.
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Student loans at University of California, Santa Barbara: common questions
Do students at University of California, Santa Barbara repay their loans?
75% of borrowers had a smaller balance three years after leaving — the federal measure of whether a loan is actually being paid down rather than deferred or growing. The national median is 65%.
How many students at University of California, Santa Barbara take out loans?
18% of students take federal loans, and 28% receive a Pell grant, which does not have to be repaid.
What is the monthly student loan payment after University of California, Santa Barbara?
About $148 a month on the median debt, on the standard federal plan. Against median graduate earnings of $74,915 that is roughly 2% of gross monthly pay.
Should I borrow to study here?
That depends on the gap between the price and the aid you are offered — not on this page alone. Read it with the net price by income and the graduate earnings: a large loan is reasonable against strong earnings and hard to justify without them.
Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard — federal loan take-up, Pell share, median debt and the
three-year declining-balance repayment rate. Information only, not financial advice.