by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Central New Mexico Community College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at CNM, 40% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $5,655 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $5,635. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
For undergraduates overall at CNM, 20% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $6,486 a year. That amounts to 15.1% above the freshman federal average of $5,635.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,972 across two years and $25,944 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 20% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,486 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 3,095 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $20,074,160 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at CNM carry a median federal debt of $4,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $4,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $6,612 |
| Students who withdrew | $3,668 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for CNM.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,167 |
| 25th percentile | $2,134 |
| 75th percentile | $9,584 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $19,066 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at CNM.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at CNM.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 750 | $7,915 |
| Completed (graduates) | 150 | $8,562 |
| Did not complete | 600 | $7,720 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $101.81/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at CNM.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 721 | $7,925 |
| No Stafford loan | 29 | $7,500 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 178 | $5,842 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 572 | $8,760 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at CNM.
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 CNM appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 22.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4171 |
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 | $5,278 |
| Middle income | $3,895 |
| High income | $3,134 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $4,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $4,273 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $3,500 |
| Independent students | $5,834 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at CNM.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.