by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend City College of San Francisco, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at City College of San Francisco, 1% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $6,645 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $6,645. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical 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.
Looking at all undergraduates at City College of San Francisco, freshmen included, 1% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $7,274 annually. This works out to 9.5% larger than the first-year federal average of $6,645.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $14,548 by year two and around $29,096 across a four-year program. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 1% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,274 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 108 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $785,603 |
The median student at City College of San Francisco borrows $7,497 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,497 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $8,218 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,458 |
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 City College of San Francisco.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,000 |
| 75th percentile | $10,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $19,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at City College of San Francisco.
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 City College of San Francisco.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1876 | $18,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 91 | $17,090 |
| Did not complete | 1785 | $18,150 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $203.22/mo.
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 City College of San Francisco.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1804 | $18,107 |
| No Stafford loan | 72 | $16,427 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 44 | $10,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 1832 | $18,291 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for City College of San Francisco.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for City College of San Francisco appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 15.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1091 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,399 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,250 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,493 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,750 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for City College of San Francisco.
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.
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.