by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend CUNY New York City College of Technology: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At City Tech specifically, 2% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, at roughly $4,613 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,163, representing 75.7% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at City Tech (freshmen included), 6% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $5,642 per year. That is 35.5% above the freshman federal average of $4,163.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $11,284 after two years and $22,568 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 6% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,642 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 719 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,056,664 |
The middle borrower at City Tech owes $7,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,533 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for City Tech.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,361 |
| 75th percentile | $14,094 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $25,312 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at City Tech.
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 City Tech.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 382 | $11,398 |
| Completed (graduates) | 98 | $9,563 |
| Did not complete | 284 | $12,289 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $113.71/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at City Tech.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 368 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 100 | $9,934 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 282 | $12,148 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at City Tech.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for City Tech appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 924 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,227 |
| Middle income | $6,270 |
| High income | $7,166 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,888 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,731 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at City Tech.
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
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.