by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Carl Albert State 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.
At Carl Albert State College specifically, 14% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, at roughly $4,779 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,779, equal to roughly 86.9% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at Carl Albert State College (freshmen included), 20% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $5,873 in federal loans per year. This works out to 22.9% above the freshman federal average of $4,779.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,746 after two years and $23,492 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 20% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,873 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 227 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,333,178 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Carl Albert State College carry a median federal debt of $6,496 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,496 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,362 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Carl Albert State College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,322 |
| 25th percentile | $2,250 |
| 75th percentile | $7,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $12,150 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Carl Albert State College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Carl Albert State College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 36 | $8,570 |
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 Carl Albert State College.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 14 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 22 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Carl Albert State 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 official Department of Education two-year default rate for Carl Albert State College appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 18.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 331 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,250 |
| Middle income | $6,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,496 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,250 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $7,903 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Carl Albert State College.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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.
Worth Knowing
Declaring bankruptcy does not erase federal student loan debt. If you stop paying, the federal government can garnish a portion of your wages until the loans are repaid.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.