by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Community College of Denver— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At CCD specifically, 26% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $4,732 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $4,412, representing 80.2% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at CCD (freshmen included), 26% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $4,854 annually. This is 10.0% more than the $4,412 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $9,708 after two years and $19,416 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 26% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,854 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,342 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,514,607 |
The median student at CCD borrows $5,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,495 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for CCD.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,749 |
| 25th percentile | $2,250 |
| 75th percentile | $10,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $22,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at CCD.
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 CCD.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 708 | $13,001 |
| Completed (graduates) | 114 | $15,089 |
| Did not complete | 594 | $12,868 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $179.42/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at CCD.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 684 | $13,000 |
| No Stafford loan | 24 | $14,250 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 279 | $10,259 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 429 | $15,675 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. CCD.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for CCD appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 24.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2553 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,243 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,333 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,066 |
| Independent students | $7,649 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at CCD.
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
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.