by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center, 78% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, averaging $8,429 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federally funded loan is $7,296. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center (freshmen included), 46% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $7,647 in federal loans per year. This is 4.8% higher than the $7,296 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $15,294 after two years and $30,588 across a four-year program. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 46% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,647 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 92 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $703,520 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center carry a median federal debt of $9,438 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,438 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,747 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $4,806 |
| 75th percentile | $14,701 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $17,270 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 30 | $7,307 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center.
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 Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 132 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $8,201 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,490 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,419 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,605 |
| Independent students | $9,805 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center.
Subsidized and 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.
Did You Know?
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.