by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend College of Eastern Idaho: 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.
At CEI specifically, 76% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $5,897 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $5,847. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at CEI, 93% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $6,606 a year. That amounts to 13.0% higher than the $5,847 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,212 over two years and about $26,424 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 | 93% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,606 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,292 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $8,535,379 |
The middle borrower at CEI owes $7,953 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,953 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for CEI.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,250 |
| 25th percentile | $3,560 |
| 75th percentile | $15,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $24,963 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at CEI.
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 CEI.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 37 | $9,866 |
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at CEI.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 12 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 25 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at CEI.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for CEI appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 236 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $7,625 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,819 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,759 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at CEI.
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
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.