by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Cuesta College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Among first-year students at Cuesta College, 5% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $4,889 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,889, amounting to 88.9% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Cuesta College, 3% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $7,174 a year. That amounts to 46.7% more than the $4,889 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $14,348 by year two and around $28,696 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 3% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,174 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 184 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,320,054 |
The middle borrower at Cuesta College owes $9,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $13,750 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Cuesta College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $11,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $19,417 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Cuesta 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 Cuesta College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 468 | $17,749 |
| Completed (graduates) | 31 | $16,500 |
| Did not complete | 437 | $17,754 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $196.2/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at Cuesta College.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 442 | $18,033 |
| No Stafford loan | 26 | $13,065 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 48 | $15,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 420 | $18,102 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Cuesta College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Cuesta College appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 385 |
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 | $10,250 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $6,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,686 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $10,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Cuesta 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.
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.