by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Forsyth Technical Community College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at Forsyth Tech, 16% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $4,644 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $4,644, representing 84.4% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at Forsyth Tech (freshmen included), 22% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $4,919 in federal loans per year. This is 5.9% more than the $4,644 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $9,838 by year two and around $19,676 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 22% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,919 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,501 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,383,615 |
The middle borrower at Forsyth Tech owes $5,888 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,888 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,751 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Forsyth Tech.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $14,427 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $25,218 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Forsyth Tech.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Forsyth Tech.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 604 | $11,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 132 | $9,472 |
| Did not complete | 472 | $11,368 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $112.63/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Forsyth Tech.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 583 | $11,118 |
| No Stafford loan | 21 | $6,000 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 194 | $10,312 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 410 | $11,309 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Forsyth 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 official Department of Education two-year default rate for Forsyth Tech follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 0 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,332 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,399 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,830 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,332 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,065 |
| Independent students | $7,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Forsyth Tech.
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
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.