by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Blue Mountain Community College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at BMCC, 5% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, borrowing on average $4,487 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federal loan is $4,487, representing 81.6% 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 BMCC, freshmen included, 10% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $6,299 each per year. This is 40.4% larger than the $4,487 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,598 in two years and roughly $25,196 by the fourth year. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 10% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,299 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 97 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $610,994 |
The middle borrower at BMCC owes $8,961 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,961 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,277 |
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 BMCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,953 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $13,730 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $23,431 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at BMCC.
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 BMCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 59 | $12,541 |
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 BMCC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 19 | $9,026 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 40 | $15,271 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at BMCC.
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 BMCC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 15.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 444 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,750 |
| Middle income | $7,916 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,105 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,873 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,499 |
| Independent students | $13,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for BMCC.
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.