by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend College of San Mateo, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At CSM, 0% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses.
For undergraduates overall at CSM, 1% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $6,562 annually.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,124 by year two and around $26,248 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 1% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,562 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 53 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $347,811 |
The middle borrower at CSM owes $6,875 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,875 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $14,695 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 CSM.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $9,625 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $14,475 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at CSM.
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 CSM.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 464 | $18,773 |
| Completed (graduates) | 19 | $16,271 |
| Did not complete | 445 | $18,784 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $193.48/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at CSM.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 443 | $18,690 |
| No Stafford loan | 21 | $25,533 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 14 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 450 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at CSM.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for CSM is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 70 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,407 |
| Middle income | $4,875 |
| High income | $6,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,125 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,750 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,375 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at CSM.
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
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.