by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Fullerton 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.
For incoming students at Fullerton College, 2% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $5,327 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,327, which is 96.9% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at Fullerton College, 2% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $5,852 a year. This is 9.9% larger than the $5,327 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $11,704 by year two and around $23,408 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 2% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,852 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 356 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,083,250 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Fullerton College carry a median federal debt of $6,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $4,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,529 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Fullerton College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $9,037 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $13,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Fullerton 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 Fullerton College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1143 | $14,994 |
| Completed (graduates) | 31 | $16,423 |
| Did not complete | 1112 | $14,962 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $195.29/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Fullerton College.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1103 | $14,797 |
| No Stafford loan | 40 | $19,033 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 79 | $11,272 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 1064 | $15,000 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Fullerton College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Fullerton College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 16.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 529 |
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 | $7,883 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,750 |
| Independent students | $9,350 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Fullerton College.
Subsidized vs. 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.