by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Central Ohio Technical College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At COTC specifically, 21% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $4,679 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,679, representing 85.1% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at COTC, freshmen included, 30% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $5,264 each per year. That amounts to 12.5% greater than the $4,679 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $10,528 in two years and roughly $21,056 by the fourth year. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 30% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,264 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 457 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,405,785 |
The median student at COTC borrows $6,644 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,644 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,072 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
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 COTC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,731 |
| 25th percentile | $2,970 |
| 75th percentile | $15,275 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $23,806 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at COTC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at COTC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 241 | $11,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 78 | $11,500 |
| Did not complete | 163 | $11,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $136.75/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at COTC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 149 | $11,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 92 | $11,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at COTC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for COTC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1791 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,602 |
| Middle income | $5,801 |
| High income | $6,341 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,084 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $7,928 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at COTC.
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.
Important to Remember
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.