by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Columbia College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Columbia College specifically, 15% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $5,314 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,314, which is 96.6% 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.
For undergraduates overall at Columbia College, 16% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $4,591 per year. This works out to 13.6% smaller than the freshman federal average of $5,314.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $9,182 across two years and $18,364 after four. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 16% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,591 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 50 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $229,566 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Columbia College carry a median federal debt of $6,035 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,035 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $7,940 |
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Columbia College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | $2,108 |
| 75th percentile | $7,723 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Columbia College.
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 Columbia College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 15 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $7,723 |
Subsidized vs. 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.
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.