by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend CUNY City 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 CCNY, 8% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $5,559 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $4,806, which is 87.4% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
For undergraduates overall at CCNY, 12% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $6,348 annually. This works out to 32.1% larger than the first-year federal average of $4,806.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,696 in two years and roughly $25,392 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 12% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,348 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,373 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $8,715,144 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at CCNY carry a median federal debt of $9,775 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,775 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,990 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for CCNY.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $4,058 |
| 75th percentile | $18,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $28,250 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at CCNY.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at CCNY.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 619 | $15,994 |
| Completed (graduates) | 312 | $17,460 |
| Did not complete | 307 | $15,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $207.62/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 CCNY.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 606 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 13 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 303 | $17,596 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 316 | $14,696 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for CCNY.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for CCNY is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1408 |
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 | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $10,000 |
| High income | $11,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $11,225 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $8,696 |
| Independent students | $11,913 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at CCNY.
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.
Important to Remember
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.