by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Wayne County Schools 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.
Looking at the entering class at Wayne County Schools Career Center, 56% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $4,854 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $4,854, amounting to 88.3% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. 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 Wayne County Schools Career Center, freshmen included, 39% take out federal student loans, at an average of $5,974 per year. That amounts to 23.1% greater than the $4,854 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $11,948 over two years and about $23,896 by the fourth year. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 39% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,974 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 78 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $466,009 |
The middle borrower at Wayne County Schools Career Center owes $5,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $7,574 |
| Students who withdrew | $3,181 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Wayne County Schools Career Center.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,310 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $9,316 |
| 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 Wayne County Schools Career Center.
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Wayne County Schools 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. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Wayne County Schools Career Center follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 112 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,539 |
| Middle income | $5,602 |
| High income | $5,498 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,408 |
| Independent students | $7,754 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Wayne County Schools 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
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.