by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Ashland Community and Technical College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Among first-year students at ACTC, 13% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $4,901 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $4,901, representing 89.1% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at ACTC, 29% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $6,113 annually. That amounts to 24.7% more than the $4,901 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,226 over two years and about $24,452 by the fourth year. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 29% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,113 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 454 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,775,394 |
The middle borrower at ACTC owes $8,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,950 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,093 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for ACTC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,392 |
| 75th percentile | $12,934 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $20,840 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at ACTC.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for ACTC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 166 | $8,229 |
| Completed (graduates) | 51 | $6,927 |
| Did not complete | 115 | $8,764 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $82.37/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 ACTC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 48 | $7,183 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 118 | $8,457 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for ACTC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for ACTC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 21.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 770 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,473 |
| Middle income | $8,157 |
| High income | $6,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,146 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,500 |
| Independent students | $9,962 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at ACTC.
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.
Important to Remember
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.