by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Kalamazoo Valley Community 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.
At Kalamazoo Valley Community College specifically, 19% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $4,656 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,547, equal to roughly 82.7% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at Kalamazoo Valley Community College (freshmen included), 22% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $6,077 per year. It comes to 33.6% above the $4,547 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,154 in two years and roughly $24,308 over four years. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 22% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,077 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,073 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,521,024 |
The middle borrower at Kalamazoo Valley Community College owes $5,054 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,054 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,699 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,106 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,400 |
| 25th percentile | $2,250 |
| 75th percentile | $9,751 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $17,696 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Kalamazoo Valley 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 Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 834 | $13,896 |
| Completed (graduates) | 97 | $11,093 |
| Did not complete | 737 | $14,500 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $131.91/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 821 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 13 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 275 | $11,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 559 | $16,560 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Kalamazoo Valley Community College appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 22.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3059 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $4,919 |
| Middle income | $5,289 |
| High income | $5,119 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $4,980 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,745 |
| Independent students | $5,786 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Kalamazoo Valley 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.
Did You Know?
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.