by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Colorado Mountain College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at Colorado Mountain College, 32% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, averaging $6,544 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $3,641, equal to roughly 66.2% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. 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 Colorado Mountain College, freshmen included, 16% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $5,462 annually. It comes to 50.0% greater than the $3,641 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $10,924 by year two and around $21,848 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 16% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,462 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 460 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,512,302 |
The median student at Colorado Mountain College borrows $5,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Colorado Mountain College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,000 |
| 75th percentile | $10,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $17,411 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Colorado Mountain College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Colorado Mountain College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 546 | $13,874 |
| Completed (graduates) | 114 | $13,893 |
| Did not complete | 432 | $13,874 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $165.2/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Colorado Mountain College.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 532 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 196 | $12,881 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 350 | $14,900 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Colorado Mountain College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Colorado Mountain College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 604 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,500 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $5,487 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Colorado Mountain College.
The Difference Between 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
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.