by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Iowa Lakes Community College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Iowa Lakes Community College, 38% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $10,156 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $7,532. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the 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.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Iowa Lakes Community College, 37% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $6,848 in federal loans per year. It comes to 9.1% under the first-year federal average of $7,532.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,696 by year two and around $27,392 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 37% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,848 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 380 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,602,336 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Iowa Lakes Community College carry a median federal debt of $7,242 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,242 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Iowa Lakes Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,964 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $12,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $20,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Iowa Lakes Community College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Iowa Lakes Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 117 | $9,096 |
| Completed (graduates) | 28 | $9,612 |
| Did not complete | 89 | $8,807 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $114.3/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Iowa Lakes Community College.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 70 | $8,326 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 47 | $12,634 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Iowa Lakes 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 Iowa Lakes Community College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 16.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 969 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,740 |
| Middle income | $7,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,151 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Iowa Lakes Community College.
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.
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.