by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend GateWay Community College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at GateWay Community College, 15% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $3,140 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $3,140, equal to roughly 57.1% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at GateWay Community College (freshmen included), 18% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $3,710 in federal loans per year. This works out to 18.2% more than the first-year federal average of $3,140.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $7,420 across two years and $14,840 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 18% |
| Average federal loan per year | $3,710 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 610 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,263,404 |
The median student at GateWay Community College borrows $4,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $4,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $6,750 |
| Students who withdrew | $3,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for GateWay Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,250 |
| 75th percentile | $12,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $21,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at GateWay Community College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for GateWay Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 371 | $10,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 94 | $9,412 |
| Did not complete | 277 | $10,307 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $111.92/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 GateWay Community College.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 361 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 88 | $8,099 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 283 | $10,400 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for GateWay Community College.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for GateWay Community College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1347 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $4,500 |
| Middle income | $4,500 |
| High income | $4,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $4,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,250 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $3,500 |
| Independent students | $4,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for GateWay Community 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.
Did You Know?
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.