by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Bucks County Community College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Bucks County Community College, 12% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $5,876 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,008, representing 91.1% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Bucks County Community College, 12% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $5,609 a year. This works out to 12.0% above the $5,008 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,218 after two years and $22,436 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 12% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,609 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 612 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,432,935 |
The middle borrower at Bucks County Community College owes $8,250 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,547 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Bucks County Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $11,730 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $18,250 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Bucks County Community 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 Bucks County Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 877 | $19,380 |
| Completed (graduates) | 156 | $15,521 |
| Did not complete | 721 | $20,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $184.56/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 Bucks County Community College.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 850 | $19,999 |
| No Stafford loan | 27 | $11,200 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 184 | $12,095 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 693 | $21,900 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Bucks County Community College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Bucks County Community College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1030 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $8,200 |
| High income | $7,084 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,504 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,500 |
| Independent students | $10,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Bucks County Community College.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Did You Know?
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.