by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for College of Western Idaho— 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 CWI specifically, 59% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $3,474 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $3,360, amounting to 61.1% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at CWI, freshmen included, 45% borrow through federal student loan programs, borrowing on average $3,554 each per year. It comes to 5.8% larger than the first-year federal average of $3,360.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $7,108 across two years and $14,216 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 | 45% |
| Average federal loan per year | $3,554 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,643 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $9,392,343 |
The middle borrower at CWI owes $4,823 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $4,823 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,720 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,000 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at CWI.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,749 |
| 25th percentile | $2,250 |
| 75th percentile | $9,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $15,826 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at CWI.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at CWI.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 398 | $10,657 |
| Completed (graduates) | 79 | $8,708 |
| Did not complete | 319 | $11,100 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $103.55/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at CWI.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 385 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 13 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 190 | $10,138 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 208 | $11,888 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. CWI.
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 CWI is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 17.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3671 |
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 | $5,250 |
| Middle income | $4,862 |
| High income | $3,799 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $4,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $3,600 |
| Independent students | $6,146 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at CWI.
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
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.