by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Eastern Maine Community 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.
At Eastern Maine Community College specifically, 18% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $3,408 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $3,204, or about 58.3% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. 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 Eastern Maine Community College, freshmen included, 19% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $4,912 each per year. This works out to 53.3% greater than the $3,204 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $9,824 across two years and $19,648 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 | 19% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,912 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 318 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,562,106 |
The median student at Eastern Maine Community College borrows $7,833 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,833 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,293 |
| 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Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Eastern Maine Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,279 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $13,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $20,472 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Eastern Maine Community College.
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 Eastern Maine Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 164 | $9,200 |
| Completed (graduates) | 37 | $9,000 |
| Did not complete | 127 | $9,441 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $107.02/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at Eastern Maine Community College.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 64 | $8,137 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 100 | $9,783 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Eastern Maine 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 Eastern Maine Community College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 497 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,000 |
| Middle income | $7,900 |
| High income | $6,900 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,912 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,479 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,750 |
| Independent students | $9,900 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Eastern Maine Community College.
The Difference Between 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.
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.