by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Holyoke Community College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Holyoke Community College, 25% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, with a typical loan of $4,436 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,308, which is 78.3% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at Holyoke Community College, freshmen included, 28% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $5,737 in federal loans per year. That is 33.2% higher than the freshman federal average of $4,308.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,474 in two years and roughly $22,948 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 28% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,737 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 895 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,134,501 |
The middle borrower at Holyoke Community College owes $4,750 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $4,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $8,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $3,600 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Holyoke Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $600 |
| 25th percentile | $1,664 |
| 75th percentile | $8,855 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $15,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Holyoke Community 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 Holyoke Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 285 | $13,535 |
| Completed (graduates) | 67 | $12,463 |
| Did not complete | 218 | $14,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $148.2/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 Holyoke Community College.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 136 | $11,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 149 | $16,505 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Holyoke Community College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Holyoke Community College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 998 |
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 | $2,500 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $7,168 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $4,451 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,326 |
| Independent students | $4,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Holyoke 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.
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.