by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Butte 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.
Among first-year students at Butte College, 2% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, averaging $6,189 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $6,189. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at Butte College, 4% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $6,448 annually. This is 4.2% larger than the $6,189 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,896 over two years and about $25,792 over a four-year span. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 4% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,448 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 310 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,998,779 |
The middle borrower at Butte College owes $8,250 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,125 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Butte College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $13,815 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $24,116 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Butte College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Butte College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 282 | $12,259 |
| Completed (graduates) | 28 | $10,399 |
| Did not complete | 254 | $13,037 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $123.66/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Butte College.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 265 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 17 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 30 | $11,634 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 252 | $13,037 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Butte College.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Butte College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 18.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1131 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $9,289 |
| Middle income | $6,000 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,131 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Butte College.
The Difference Between 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.
Important to Remember
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.