by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for North Central Missouri College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at NCMC, 18% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, borrowing on average $4,128 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $3,882, equal to roughly 70.6% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Counting every undergraduate at NCMC, 26% take out federal student loans, at an average of $4,941 in federal loans per year. That is 27.3% more than the $3,882 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $9,882 across two years and $19,764 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 26% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,941 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 309 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,526,740 |
The median student at NCMC borrows $8,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,000 |
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 NCMC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,600 |
| 75th percentile | $13,040 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $20,762 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at NCMC.
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 NCMC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 97 | $6,976 |
| Completed (graduates) | 38 | $7,529 |
| Did not complete | 59 | $6,650 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $89.53/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at NCMC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 55 | $6,827 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 42 | $8,106 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at NCMC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for NCMC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 16.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 377 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $7,500 |
| High income | $7,600 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,264 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,000 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for NCMC.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
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.