by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for El Paso Community College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At El Paso Community College specifically, 2% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $3,357 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $3,385, amounting to 61.5% 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.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at El Paso Community College, 2% take out federal student loans, averaging $4,802 each per year. This works out to 41.9% greater than the freshman federal average of $3,385.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $9,604 by year two and around $19,208 over four years. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 2% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,802 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 399 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,915,975 |
The middle borrower at El Paso Community College owes $5,231 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,231 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $6,566 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at El Paso Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,606 |
| 25th percentile | $2,250 |
| 75th percentile | $9,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $18,400 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at El Paso Community College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at El Paso Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 715 | $8,585 |
| Completed (graduates) | 120 | $8,024 |
| Did not complete | 595 | $8,636 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $95.41/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at El Paso Community College.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 696 | $8,608 |
| No Stafford loan | 19 | $7,280 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 71 | $8,467 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 644 | $8,587 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at El Paso Community College.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for El Paso Community College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1012 |
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 | $5,531 |
| Middle income | $4,750 |
| High income | $4,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $4,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,000 |
| Independent students | $8,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for El Paso Community College.
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.