by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Highline 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.
At Highline, 2% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $4,870 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,159, equal to roughly 75.6% 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.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Highline, 3% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $6,832 a year. That amounts to 64.3% more than the $4,159 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,664 after two years and $27,328 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 3% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,832 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 96 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $655,825 |
The median student at Highline borrows $6,113 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,113 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,647 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Highline.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,667 |
| 25th percentile | $3,000 |
| 75th percentile | $11,702 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $18,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Highline.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Highline.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 252 | $12,049 |
| Completed (graduates) | 30 | $14,268 |
| Did not complete | 222 | $11,905 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $169.66/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Highline.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 31 | $9,009 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 221 | $12,455 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Highline.
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 Highline is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 526 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,529 |
| Middle income | $5,218 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,093 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,134 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,092 |
| Independent students | $7,737 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Highline.
Subsidized vs. 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.