by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Lake Superior 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.
Among first-year students at LSC, 36% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $9,503 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,022, representing 91.3% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at LSC, freshmen included, 35% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $6,168 per year. This is 22.8% larger than the $5,022 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,336 across two years and $24,672 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 35% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,168 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 857 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,286,235 |
The middle borrower at LSC owes $8,820 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,820 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,775 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,149 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for LSC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,250 |
| 25th percentile | $4,073 |
| 75th percentile | $16,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $26,069 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at LSC.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for LSC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 300 | $11,517 |
| Completed (graduates) | 86 | $10,775 |
| Did not complete | 214 | $11,931 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $128.13/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at LSC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 166 | $9,971 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 134 | $13,865 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at LSC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for LSC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1514 |
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 | $10,112 |
| Middle income | $8,750 |
| High income | $6,800 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,250 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,500 |
| Independent students | $11,762 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at LSC.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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.
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.