by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Western Area Career & Technology 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.
At Western Area Career & Technology Center specifically, 100% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $7,957 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federally funded loan is $7,957. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. 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 Western Area Career & Technology Center, 70% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $8,461 in federal loans per year. This works out to 6.3% larger than the freshman federal average of $7,957.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $16,922 across two years and $33,844 across a four-year program. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 70% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,461 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 31 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $262,302 |
The middle borrower at Western Area Career & Technology Center owes $15,817 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,817 |
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Western Area Career & Technology Center.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,296 |
| 25th percentile | $9,500 |
| 75th percentile | $16,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $16,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Western Area Career & Technology Center.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Western Area Career & Technology 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 federal two-year cohort default rate for Western Area Career & Technology Center is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 56 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
Did You Know?
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.