by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Inver Hills Community College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at IHCC, 22% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $4,660 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $4,552, which is 82.8% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at IHCC (freshmen included), 25% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $5,987 annually. This works out to 31.5% above the $4,552 borrowed by freshmen.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $11,974 after two years and $23,948 after four. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 25% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,987 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 547 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,275,009 |
The middle borrower at IHCC owes $9,315 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,315 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $13,965 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,693 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 IHCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,200 |
| 25th percentile | $4,000 |
| 75th percentile | $15,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $25,240 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at IHCC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at IHCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 263 | $13,781 |
| Completed (graduates) | 60 | $11,734 |
| Did not complete | 203 | $14,500 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $139.53/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 IHCC.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 94 | $9,954 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 169 | $16,994 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for IHCC.
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 IHCC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1535 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $10,275 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $7,587 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,748 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,500 |
| Independent students | $13,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at IHCC.
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
Declaring bankruptcy does not erase federal student loan debt. If you stop paying, the federal government can garnish a portion of your wages until the loans are repaid.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.