by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for CUNY Bronx Community College— 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.
For incoming students at BCC, 3% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $4,647 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $4,647, which is 84.5% 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.
Across the full undergraduate body at BCC (freshmen included), 6% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $5,340 a year. This is 14.9% larger than the $4,647 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $10,680 after two years and $21,360 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 | 6% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,340 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 330 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,762,082 |
The middle borrower at BCC owes $6,430 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,430 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $8,384 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for BCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,500 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $9,800 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $18,540 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at BCC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at BCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 338 | $7,238 |
| Completed (graduates) | 92 | $7,856 |
| Did not complete | 246 | $7,000 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $93.42/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at BCC.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 326 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 12 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 45 | $9,325 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 293 | $7,085 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at BCC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for BCC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 490 |
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 | $6,500 |
| Middle income | $6,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,430 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,549 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,742 |
| Independent students | $9,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at BCC.
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.
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.