by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Galveston College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Galveston College, 11% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $4,391 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $4,240, or about 77.1% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at Galveston College, 12% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $6,417 a year. That is 51.3% larger than the $4,240 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,834 after two years and $25,668 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 12% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,417 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 179 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,148,701 |
The median student at Galveston College borrows $7,250 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,311 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,541 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Galveston College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $2,975 |
| 75th percentile | $11,168 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $18,395 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Galveston College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Galveston College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 147 | $15,984 |
| Completed (graduates) | 34 | $11,640 |
| Did not complete | 113 | $17,838 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $138.41/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Galveston College.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 13 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 134 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Galveston College.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Galveston College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 12.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 177 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,949 |
| Middle income | $5,342 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,358 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,546 |
| Independent students | $9,463 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Galveston 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
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.