by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Big Sandy Community and Technical College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Big Sandy Community and Technical College, 13% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $5,258 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,258, representing 95.6% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. 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 Big Sandy Community and Technical College, freshmen included, 25% take out federal student loans, at an average of $6,078 each per year. That is 15.6% larger than the $5,258 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,156 in two years and roughly $24,312 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 25% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,078 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 398 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,418,936 |
The middle borrower at Big Sandy Community and Technical College owes $6,911 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,911 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,357 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,149 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Big Sandy Community and Technical College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,121 |
| 75th percentile | $11,717 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $20,100 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Big Sandy Community and Technical College.
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 Big Sandy Community and Technical College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 100 | $6,139 |
| Completed (graduates) | 23 | $7,500 |
| Did not complete | 77 | $5,600 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $89.18/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 Big Sandy Community and Technical College.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 36 | $6,272 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 64 | $5,946 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Big Sandy Community and Technical 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 Big Sandy Community and Technical College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 21.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 684 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,086 |
| Middle income | $5,887 |
| High income | $6,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,050 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Big Sandy Community and Technical College.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
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.