by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Joliet Junior College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Joliet Junior College, 7% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, borrowing on average $4,665 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federal loan is $4,665, or about 84.8% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. 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 Joliet Junior College (freshmen included), 5% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $1,019 per year. That is 78.2% under the first-year federal average of $4,665.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $2,038 over two years and about $4,076 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 5% |
| Average federal loan per year | $1,019 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 401 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $408,760 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Joliet Junior College carry a median federal debt of $5,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,711 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,404 |
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 Joliet Junior College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,430 |
| 25th percentile | $2,500 |
| 75th percentile | $8,860 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $14,420 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Joliet Junior 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 Joliet Junior College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1302 | $17,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 188 | $17,972 |
| Did not complete | 1114 | $16,886 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $213.71/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Joliet Junior College.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1264 | $17,207 |
| No Stafford loan | 38 | $12,000 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 190 | $12,923 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 1112 | $17,847 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Joliet Junior College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Joliet Junior College appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 845 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,475 |
| Middle income | $5,348 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,852 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,484 |
| Independent students | $8,145 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Joliet Junior 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
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.