by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Southwest Texas 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 Southwest Texas Junior College, 4% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $4,960 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $4,960, amounting to 90.2% 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.
For undergraduates overall at Southwest Texas Junior College, 5% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $5,629 each per year. That amounts to 13.5% larger than the $4,960 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $11,258 across two years and $22,516 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 | 5% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,629 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 151 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $849,999 |
The median student at Southwest Texas Junior College borrows $5,750 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $6,200 |
| 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.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Southwest Texas Junior College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,500 |
| 25th percentile | $2,382 |
| 75th percentile | $7,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $14,755 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Southwest Texas Junior College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Southwest Texas Junior College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 162 | $9,694 |
| Completed (graduates) | 29 | $9,790 |
| Did not complete | 133 | $9,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $116.41/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 Southwest Texas Junior College.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 23 | $7,904 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 139 | $9,790 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Southwest Texas Junior College.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Southwest Texas Junior College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 18.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 374 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,694 |
| Middle income | $4,900 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,980 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Southwest Texas Junior College.
Subsidized vs. 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.
Important to Remember
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.