by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Columbia-Greene Community College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at Columbia-Greene Community College, 12% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $4,469 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $4,469, or about 81.3% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
For undergraduates overall at Columbia-Greene Community College, 14% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $5,824 in federal loans per year. That is 30.3% more than the $4,469 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $11,648 after two years and $23,296 across a four-year program. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 14% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,824 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 131 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $762,947 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Columbia-Greene Community College carry a median federal debt of $9,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,787 |
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 Columbia-Greene Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $12,702 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $20,847 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Columbia-Greene Community College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Columbia-Greene Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 74 | $11,702 |
| Completed (graduates) | 30 | $11,157 |
| Did not complete | 44 | $12,390 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $132.67/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Columbia-Greene Community College.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 35 | $9,667 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 39 | $15,102 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Columbia-Greene Community College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Columbia-Greene Community College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 331 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $9,400 |
| High income | $6,008 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,018 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,574 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $7,000 |
| Independent students | $10,375 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Columbia-Greene Community College.
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.