by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Front Range Community College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At FRCC, 22% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $5,973 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,528. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at FRCC, 21% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $5,878 annually. It comes to 6.3% greater than the freshman federal average of $5,528.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $11,756 after two years and $23,512 across a four-year program. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 21% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,878 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,394 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $14,072,087 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at FRCC carry a median federal debt of $7,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,251 |
| 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Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 FRCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,495 |
| 75th percentile | $14,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,201 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at FRCC.
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 FRCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 2062 | $16,500 |
| Completed (graduates) | 431 | $14,000 |
| Did not complete | 1631 | $17,230 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $166.47/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 FRCC.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1976 | $16,604 |
| No Stafford loan | 86 | $14,921 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 784 | $12,483 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 1278 | $19,145 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. FRCC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for FRCC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 16.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3981 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,344 |
| Middle income | $7,233 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,636 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for FRCC.
Subsidized and 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.