by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Coastal Bend College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At CBC, 11% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $4,510 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $4,510, amounting to 82.0% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Looking at all undergraduates at CBC, freshmen included, 12% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $5,395 per year. That amounts to 19.6% above the freshman federal average of $4,510.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $10,790 over two years and about $21,580 over four years. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 12% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,395 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 215 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,159,999 |
The median student at CBC borrows $7,445 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,445 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,440 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 CBC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,800 |
| 25th percentile | $3,000 |
| 75th percentile | $9,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $15,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at CBC.
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 CBC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 117 | $9,100 |
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at CBC.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 46 | $8,258 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 71 | $10,798 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. CBC.
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 CBC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 18.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 576 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $8,937 |
| Middle income | $5,973 |
| High income | $5,576 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,605 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,025 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for CBC.
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.
Did You Know?
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.