by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Chemeketa Community 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 Chemeketa Community College specifically, 17% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, borrowing on average $5,086 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federal loan is $5,043, which is 91.7% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Chemeketa Community College, 19% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $5,917 each per year. This is 17.3% higher than the $5,043 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $11,834 over two years and about $23,668 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 19% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,917 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,242 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,348,408 |
The middle borrower at Chemeketa Community College owes $7,408 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,408 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,822 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,411 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Chemeketa Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,818 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $16,422 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $26,157 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Chemeketa 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 Chemeketa Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 518 | $12,735 |
| Completed (graduates) | 66 | $14,852 |
| Did not complete | 452 | $12,277 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $176.61/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Chemeketa Community College.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 504 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 184 | $10,468 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 334 | $14,892 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Chemeketa Community College.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Chemeketa Community College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2665 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,139 |
| Middle income | $6,896 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,292 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,033 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,973 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Chemeketa Community College.
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.
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.