by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Green River College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At GRC specifically, 11% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, averaging $6,624 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $4,880, equal to roughly 88.7% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. 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 GRC, 10% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $6,415 a year. That amounts to 31.5% higher than the first-year federal average of $4,880.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,830 by year two and around $25,660 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 10% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,415 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 470 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,015,170 |
The middle borrower at GRC owes $7,125 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,125 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,891 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,833 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for GRC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,500 |
| 25th percentile | $2,767 |
| 75th percentile | $11,037 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $19,377 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at GRC.
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 GRC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 304 | $12,691 |
| Completed (graduates) | 28 | $8,853 |
| Did not complete | 276 | $12,983 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $105.27/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 GRC.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 288 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 16 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 105 | $9,504 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 199 | $13,934 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. GRC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for GRC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1041 |
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 | $8,305 |
| Middle income | $7,926 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,125 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,625 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,334 |
| Independent students | $9,659 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at GRC.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
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.