by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Highland Community 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.
Looking at the entering class at Highland Community College, 46% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $4,910 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,711, which is 85.7% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Looking at all undergraduates at Highland Community College, freshmen included, 26% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $5,181 in federal loans per year. This works out to 10.0% larger than the $4,711 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $10,362 by year two and around $20,724 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 26% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,181 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 325 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,683,733 |
The median student at Highland Community College borrows $5,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $8,277 |
| 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Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Highland Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,250 |
| 75th percentile | $9,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $14,021 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Highland Community College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Highland Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 293 | $11,951 |
| Completed (graduates) | 35 | $10,511 |
| Did not complete | 258 | $12,000 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $124.99/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 Highland Community College.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 58 | $9,178 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 235 | $14,274 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Highland Community College.
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 Highland Community College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 20.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 943 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,500 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $7,996 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Highland 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.
Did You Know?
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.