<p>When looking at the information on the US News College Premium Edition, I always have questions about how the information is calculated or gathered... </p>
<p>My latest:</p>
<p>When listing the Average Total Indebtedness, is that figure calculated over just the students who borrowed or is it calculated over all the students? </p>
<p>For example, Bucknell lists:
Average total indebtedness of 2005 graduating class:
$17,400
Percent of 2005 graduating class who have borrowed:
62%</p>
<p>Now, do you suppose that $17,400 is only for the 62% who borrowed, or do you suppose it is over all the kids? I'm poor at math, but it would seem to make a difference.</p>
<p>these things are usually taken from the school's common data set (section H which talks about financial aid. However I do not see Bucknell's recent (2005 data) CDS on their site.</p>
<p>the 62% part is based on (section H4 of the CDS)</p>
<p>Provide the percentage of the 2005 undergraduate class who graduated between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005 and borrowed at any time through any loan programs (federal, state, subsidized, unsubsidized, private, etc.; exclude parent loans). Include only students who borrowed while enrolled at your institution.</p>
<p>the $17,000 is based on section H5 of the CDS</p>
<p>Report the average per-borrower cumulative undergraduate indebtedness of those in line H4. Do not include money borrowed at other institutions:</p>
<p>The sad thing is you even have to take these numbers with a grain of salt because it does not address students who transferred into Bucknell and may have debt from their previous school (only the debt taken at Bucknell)</p>