by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Berkshire Community College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at BCC, 52% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, averaging $5,695 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federal loan is $5,695. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
For undergraduates overall at BCC, 42% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $6,170 each per year. This works out to 8.3% larger than the first-year federal average of $5,695.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,340 by year two and around $24,680 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 42% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,170 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 492 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,035,462 |
The middle borrower at BCC owes $8,250 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,053 |
| 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 BCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,460 |
| 75th percentile | $14,489 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $25,907 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at BCC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at BCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 95 | $14,660 |
| Completed (graduates) | 24 | $15,280 |
| Did not complete | 71 | $13,175 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $181.7/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 BCC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 39 | $12,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 56 | $15,276 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at BCC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for BCC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 336 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $8,300 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,825 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,750 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,791 |
| Independent students | $10,000 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at BCC.
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.