by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend College of the Mainland, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at COM, 1% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $3,665 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $3,665, equal to roughly 66.6% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at COM, freshmen included, 4% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $4,440 in federal loans per year. That amounts to 21.1% above the $3,665 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $8,880 across two years and $17,760 over four years. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 4% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,440 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 136 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $603,806 |
The middle borrower at COM owes $5,156 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,156 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $5,960 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,172 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for COM.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,329 |
| 25th percentile | $2,728 |
| 75th percentile | $8,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $12,260 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at COM.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for COM.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 191 | $11,475 |
| Completed (graduates) | 68 | $12,026 |
| Did not complete | 123 | $11,260 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $143.0/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 COM.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 177 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at COM.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for COM appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 15.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 19 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,167 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $4,950 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $4,640 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,519 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,014 |
| Independent students | $5,736 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at COM.
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.
Did You Know?
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.