by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Garden City Community College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Garden City Community College, 17% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $5,022 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,927, or about 89.6% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
For undergraduates overall at Garden City Community College, 15% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $5,174 in federal loans per year. It comes to 5.0% higher than the $4,927 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $10,348 over two years and about $20,696 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 | 15% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,174 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 203 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,050,417 |
The median student at Garden City Community College borrows $5,200 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,200 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $6,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,488 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Garden City Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,700 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $8,315 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $12,441 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Garden City Community 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 Garden City Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 51 | $8,129 |
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Garden City Community College.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 23 | $8,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 28 | $8,584 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Garden City Community 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 Garden City Community College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 313 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $4,500 |
| Middle income | $4,121 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,898 |
| Independent students | $7,029 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Garden City Community College.
The Difference Between 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.
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.