by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Lake Erie 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 LEC specifically, 68% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $5,251 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $5,070, amounting to 92.2% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Across the full undergraduate body at LEC (freshmen included), 60% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $5,976 in federal loans per year. This works out to 17.9% more than the $5,070 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $11,952 by year two and around $23,904 by the fourth year. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 60% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,976 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 406 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,426,201 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at LEC carry a median federal debt of $13,875 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,875 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 LEC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $36,500 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at LEC.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for LEC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 179 | $18,173 |
| Completed (graduates) | 84 | $26,022 |
| Did not complete | 95 | $11,122 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $309.43/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at LEC.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 164 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 15 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. LEC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for LEC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 297 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,500 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $14,125 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,729 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,250 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,741 |
| Independent students | $14,417 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at LEC.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
Worth Knowing
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.