by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Gavilan College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Among first-year students at Gavilan College, 0% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, borrowing on average $4,702 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federal loan is $4,702, representing 85.5% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
For undergraduates overall at Gavilan College, 0% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $6,323 a year. This is 34.5% higher than the $4,702 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,646 in two years and roughly $25,292 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 0% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,323 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 12 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $75,875 |
The median student at Gavilan College borrows $5,841 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,841 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Gavilan College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,888 |
| 25th percentile | $2,753 |
| 75th percentile | $8,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $14,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Gavilan College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Gavilan College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 346 | $15,624 |
| Completed (graduates) | 35 | $12,000 |
| Did not complete | 311 | $16,000 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $142.69/mo.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Gavilan College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Gavilan College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 21.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 159 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,466 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,664 |
| Independent students | $6,459 |
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.