by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Polaris Career Center: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Polaris Career Center, 41% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, borrowing on average $5,324 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,324, which is 96.8% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Looking at all undergraduates at Polaris Career Center, freshmen included, 32% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $5,113 per year. That is 4.0% smaller than the $5,324 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $10,226 across two years and $20,452 by the fourth year. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 32% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,113 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 90 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $460,208 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Polaris Career Center carry a median federal debt of $5,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $6,365 |
| Students who withdrew | $3,000 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Polaris Career Center.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,666 |
| 75th percentile | $7,380 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $9,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Polaris Career Center.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Polaris Career 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 Polaris Career Center follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 17.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 84 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,723 |
| Middle income | $6,156 |
| High income | $3,685 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,723 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $3,685 |
| Independent students | $6,365 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Polaris Career Center.
Subsidized and 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
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.