by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Columbia Basin College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at CBC, 5% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $6,952 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,352, equal to roughly 97.3% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Counting every undergraduate at CBC, 7% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $7,094 a year. This is 32.5% more than the $5,352 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $14,188 in two years and roughly $28,376 across a four-year program. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 7% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,094 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 288 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,043,130 |
The median student at CBC borrows $7,506 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,506 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $14,829 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,286 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 CBC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,503 |
| 25th percentile | $2,757 |
| 75th percentile | $11,638 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $20,060 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at CBC.
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 CBC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 214 | $12,216 |
| Completed (graduates) | 26 | $11,477 |
| Did not complete | 188 | $12,275 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $136.47/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at CBC.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 204 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 59 | $7,835 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 155 | $12,917 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. CBC.
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 CBC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 446 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,426 |
| Middle income | $7,506 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,888 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,875 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at CBC.
The Difference Between 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
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.