by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend East Arkansas Community College: 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 East Arkansas Community College, 3% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $3,917 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $3,917, which is 71.2% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at East Arkansas Community College, 5% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $5,337 a year. This works out to 36.3% above the first-year federal average of $3,917.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $10,674 over two years and about $21,348 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 5% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,337 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 26 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $138,760 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at East Arkansas Community College carry a median federal debt of $4,750 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $4,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $6,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $3,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 East Arkansas Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $875 |
| 25th percentile | $1,500 |
| 75th percentile | $3,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $6,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at East Arkansas Community College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at East Arkansas Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 67 | $7,689 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at East Arkansas Community College.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for East Arkansas Community College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 19.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 86 |
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 | $4,500 |
| Middle income | $5,963 |
| High income | $3,875 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $4,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,308 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $3,500 |
| Independent students | $5,758 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at East Arkansas Community College.
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
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.