by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Four Rivers Career Center— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Four Rivers Career Center, 100% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $8,610 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $8,610. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Counting every undergraduate at Four Rivers Career Center, 96% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $8,354 per year. This is 3.0% less than the freshman federal average of $8,610.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $16,708 in two years and roughly $33,416 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 | 96% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,354 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 25 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $208,840 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Four Rivers Career Center carry a median federal debt of $8,745 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,745 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,623 |
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Four Rivers Career Center.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $14,164 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Four Rivers Career Center.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Four Rivers Career Center appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 31 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,943 |
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.
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.