by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Laramie County Community College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At LCCC specifically, 29% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, averaging $4,687 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,441, amounting to 80.7% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at LCCC (freshmen included), 28% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $5,480 in federal loans per year. It comes to 23.4% higher than the $4,441 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $10,960 by year two and around $21,920 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 28% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,480 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 712 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,901,865 |
The median student at LCCC borrows $7,015 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,015 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for LCCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,050 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $11,507 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $18,947 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at LCCC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at LCCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 151 | $11,502 |
| Completed (graduates) | 34 | $8,088 |
| Did not complete | 117 | $12,000 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $96.17/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at LCCC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 71 | $9,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 80 | $13,223 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at LCCC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for LCCC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 533 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $7,000 |
| Middle income | $7,528 |
| High income | $6,508 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,931 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,126 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,057 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at LCCC.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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.
Important to Remember
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.