by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend CUNY York College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at York, 3% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $7,181 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,117, equal to roughly 93.0% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Looking at all undergraduates at York, freshmen included, 8% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $6,426 each per year. That is 25.6% higher than the first-year federal average of $5,117.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,852 in two years and roughly $25,704 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 8% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,426 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 368 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,364,864 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at York carry a median federal debt of $7,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at York.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $12,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $20,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at York.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for York.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 250 | $11,436 |
| Completed (graduates) | 108 | $11,018 |
| Did not complete | 142 | $13,172 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $131.02/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at York.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 74 | $12,901 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 176 | $11,249 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for York.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for York appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 373 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $7,500 |
| Middle income | $6,631 |
| High income | $9,100 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,250 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,494 |
| Independent students | $9,348 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at York.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.