by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Bismarck State College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at BSC, 40% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, borrowing on average $6,634 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,127, amounting to 93.2% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Counting every undergraduate at BSC, 31% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $5,937 in federal loans per year. This is 15.8% above the first-year federal average of $5,127.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $11,874 across two years and $23,748 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 31% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,937 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 820 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,868,209 |
The median student at BSC borrows $6,750 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,533 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for BSC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,476 |
| 25th percentile | $3,850 |
| 75th percentile | $12,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $18,911 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at BSC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at BSC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 139 | $8,400 |
| Completed (graduates) | 52 | $9,269 |
| Did not complete | 87 | $6,450 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $110.22/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 BSC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 88 | $6,521 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 51 | $9,566 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at BSC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for BSC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1461 |
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 | $7,452 |
| Middle income | $8,149 |
| High income | $5,781 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,493 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $10,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for BSC.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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.
Worth Knowing
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.