by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Colorado Northwestern Community College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at CNCC, 38% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $9,883 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $5,042, equal to roughly 91.7% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at CNCC (freshmen included), 35% take out federal student loans, for a typical $6,317 a year. This is 25.3% higher than the freshman federal average of $5,042.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,634 in two years and roughly $25,268 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 35% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,317 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 173 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,092,923 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at CNCC carry a median federal debt of $8,250 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for CNCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $4,700 |
| 75th percentile | $13,784 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $22,750 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at CNCC.
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 CNCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 77 | $11,472 |
| Completed (graduates) | 27 | $20,238 |
| Did not complete | 50 | $9,172 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $240.65/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at CNCC.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 43 | $10,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 34 | $15,963 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for CNCC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for CNCC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 22.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 224 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $9,414 |
| Middle income | $8,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at CNCC.
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.
Important to Remember
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.