by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Alvin Community College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Alvin, 8% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $3,271 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $2,970, which is 54.0% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
For undergraduates overall at Alvin, 8% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $3,122 in federal loans per year. This works out to 5.1% higher than the $2,970 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $6,244 across two years and $12,488 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 8% |
| Average federal loan per year | $3,122 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 249 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $777,299 |
The median student at Alvin borrows $3,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $3,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $4,519 |
| Students who withdrew | $3,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Alvin.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $2,250 |
| 75th percentile | $4,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $9,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Alvin.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Alvin.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 210 | $11,707 |
| Completed (graduates) | 60 | $11,815 |
| Did not complete | 150 | $11,707 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $140.49/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Alvin.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 40 | $9,855 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 170 | $12,325 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Alvin.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Alvin is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 308 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $3,500 |
| Middle income | $3,500 |
| High income | $3,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $3,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $3,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $3,500 |
| Independent students | $4,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Alvin.
The Difference Between 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.