by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for American River College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at American River, 4% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $7,305 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $7,016. 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.
Across the full undergraduate body at American River (freshmen included), 3% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $7,571 per year. This works out to 7.9% above the $7,016 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $15,142 across two years and $30,284 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 3% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,571 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 817 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,185,727 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at American River carry a median federal debt of $9,354 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,354 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,625 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,316 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at American River.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,922 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $15,192 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,019 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at American River.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at American River.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2071 | $14,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 85 | $14,272 |
| Did not complete | 1986 | $14,000 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $169.71/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at American River.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1972 | $14,002 |
| No Stafford loan | 99 | $13,451 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 59 | $8,904 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 2012 | $14,121 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at American River.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for American River is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 18.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1479 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,443 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,250 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at American River.
Subsidized vs. 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.
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.