by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Delaware Technical Community College-Terry: 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 Delaware Tech, 11% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $5,263 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,263, equal to roughly 95.7% 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.
Counting every undergraduate at Delaware Tech, 17% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $6,168 each per year. It comes to 17.2% higher than the $5,263 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,336 by year two and around $24,672 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 17% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,168 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,852 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $11,423,098 |
The middle borrower at Delaware Tech owes $5,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,726 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Delaware Tech.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,500 |
| 25th percentile | $2,250 |
| 75th percentile | $6,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $10,500 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Delaware Tech.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Delaware Tech.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 872 | $15,487 |
| Completed (graduates) | 201 | $15,764 |
| Did not complete | 671 | $15,447 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $187.45/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Delaware Tech.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 847 | $15,528 |
| No Stafford loan | 25 | $15,000 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 300 | $12,406 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 572 | $18,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Delaware Tech.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Delaware Tech follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 14.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 397 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,250 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $6,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $6,401 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Delaware 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.
Important to Remember
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.