by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Bakersfield 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.
For incoming students at Bakersfield College, 2% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $6,357 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federal loan is $6,357. This reaches or tops the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap for a typical dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at Bakersfield College, 2% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $7,259 annually. That amounts to 14.2% larger than the $6,357 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $14,518 after two years and $29,036 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 2% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,259 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 247 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,793,008 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Bakersfield College carry a median federal debt of $9,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $8,312 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
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 Bakersfield College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,872 |
| 25th percentile | $3,274 |
| 75th percentile | $13,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $22,046 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Bakersfield College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Bakersfield College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 790 | $9,813 |
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Bakersfield College.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 743 | $9,806 |
| No Stafford loan | 47 | $9,820 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 17 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 773 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Bakersfield College.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Bakersfield College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 19.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 512 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $8,833 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,637 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,250 |
| Independent students | $10,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Bakersfield College.
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.