by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Southeast Technical College— 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 Southeast Tech specifically, 58% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $6,501 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,381, representing 97.8% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at Southeast Tech, 62% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $5,880 annually. It comes to 9.3% greater than the $5,381 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,760 in two years and roughly $23,520 over four years. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 62% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,880 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,331 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,826,323 |
The middle borrower at Southeast Tech owes $9,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Southeast Tech.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $4,750 |
| 75th percentile | $15,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $23,750 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Southeast Tech.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Southeast Tech.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 270 | $8,152 |
| Completed (graduates) | 126 | $9,141 |
| Did not complete | 144 | $7,500 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $108.7/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 Southeast Tech.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 230 | $8,007 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 40 | $9,687 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Southeast Tech.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Southeast Tech follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1196 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $10,249 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $6,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,250 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,521 |
| Independent students | $13,719 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Southeast Tech.
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.
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.