by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Lamar Community College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At LCC, 17% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $6,359 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,422, equal to roughly 80.4% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at LCC, 15% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $5,212 a year. It comes to 17.9% higher than the $4,422 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $10,424 after two years and $20,848 across a four-year program. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 15% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,212 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 61 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $317,931 |
The middle borrower at LCC owes $5,973 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,973 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $8,750 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for LCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,130 |
| 75th percentile | $10,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $16,365 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at LCC.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for LCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 59 | $11,747 |
| Completed (graduates) | 19 | $10,128 |
| Did not complete | 40 | $12,168 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $120.43/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at LCC.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 34 | $12,041 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 25 | $11,284 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. LCC.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for LCC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 19.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 204 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $6,750 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,225 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $8,750 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for LCC.
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.
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.