by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Lackawanna 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 Lackawanna College, 80% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $7,334 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,921. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
For undergraduates overall at Lackawanna College, 76% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $8,212 annually. This works out to 38.7% more than the $5,921 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $16,424 in two years and roughly $32,848 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 76% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,212 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,394 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $11,447,896 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Lackawanna College carry a median federal debt of $11,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $11,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $18,075 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Lackawanna College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,000 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $15,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $21,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Lackawanna College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Lackawanna College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 537 | $12,317 |
| Completed (graduates) | 210 | $12,882 |
| Did not complete | 327 | $12,087 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $153.18/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Lackawanna College.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 440 | $11,150 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 97 | $19,956 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Lackawanna College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Lackawanna College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 14.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 878 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,000 |
| Middle income | $11,000 |
| High income | $10,250 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,750 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,000 |
| Independent students | $14,750 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Lackawanna 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.
Did You Know?
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.