by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Helena College University of Montana: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Helena College, 34% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $5,302 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $5,080, equal to roughly 92.4% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Counting every undergraduate at Helena College, 40% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $5,944 in federal loans per year. This works out to 17.0% above the first-year federal average of $5,080.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,888 after two years and $23,776 by the fourth year. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 40% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,944 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 257 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,527,706 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Helena College carry a median federal debt of $9,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $14,580 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,822 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Helena College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,900 |
| 25th percentile | $3,750 |
| 75th percentile | $19,912 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $30,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Helena 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 Helena College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 89 | $9,775 |
| Completed (graduates) | 26 | $8,730 |
| Did not complete | 63 | $10,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $103.81/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 Helena College.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 59 | $9,270 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 30 | $11,867 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Helena College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Helena College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 12.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 453 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $10,500 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $6,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $7,000 |
| Independent students | $11,873 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Helena 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
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.