by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Columbia State Community College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Columbia State Community College, 2% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $5,715 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,715. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the 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 Columbia State Community College, 7% take out federal student loans, at an average of $5,543 per year. This works out to 3.0% below the $5,715 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $11,086 over two years and about $22,172 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 7% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,543 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 265 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,468,878 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Columbia State Community College carry a median federal debt of $5,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $8,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,314 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Columbia State Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,386 |
| 75th percentile | $13,136 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $24,218 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Columbia State Community College.
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 Columbia State Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 346 | $12,840 |
| Completed (graduates) | 74 | $12,399 |
| Did not complete | 272 | $12,923 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $147.44/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Columbia State Community College.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 327 | $12,759 |
| No Stafford loan | 19 | $14,732 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 89 | $10,400 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 257 | $13,245 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Columbia State 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 State Community College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 12.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 724 |
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 | $6,750 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,792 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,464 |
| Independent students | $7,750 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Columbia State Community College.
Subsidized vs. 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.