by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Austin Community College District— 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 Austin Community College District, 15% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $5,247 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,008, amounting to 91.1% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. 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 Austin Community College District, freshmen included, 18% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $6,052 annually. This works out to 20.8% greater than the $5,008 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,104 across two years and $24,208 by the fourth year. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 18% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,052 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 4,634 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $28,044,348 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Austin Community College District carry a median federal debt of $6,126 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,126 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,499 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
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 Austin Community College District.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $2,000 |
| 75th percentile | $7,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $13,458 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Austin Community College District.
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 Austin Community College District.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 4265 | $15,658 |
| Completed (graduates) | 784 | $13,407 |
| Did not complete | 3481 | $16,177 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $159.42/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 Austin Community College District.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 4127 | $15,649 |
| No Stafford loan | 138 | $15,803 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 982 | $12,645 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 3283 | $16,768 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Austin Community College District.
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 Austin Community College District follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 15.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5541 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,198 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,219 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,750 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,313 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Austin Community College District.
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.
Did You Know?
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.