by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Lees-McRae College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Lees - McRae College specifically, 66% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $7,901 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $5,397, which is 98.1% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at Lees - McRae College, 59% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $6,051 each per year. This is 12.1% more than the $5,397 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,102 over two years and about $24,204 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 59% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,051 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 486 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,940,666 |
The median student at Lees - McRae College borrows $12,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $17,375 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,250 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Lees - McRae College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $8,750 |
| 75th percentile | $21,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Lees - McRae College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Lees - McRae College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 190 | $14,670 |
| Completed (graduates) | 81 | $17,576 |
| Did not complete | 109 | $14,165 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $209.0/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 Lees - McRae College.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 180 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 10 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Lees - McRae College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Lees - McRae College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 320 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $11,000 |
| Middle income | $12,500 |
| High income | $12,875 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,254 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,357 |
| Independent students | $11,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Lees - McRae College.
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.
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.