by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Lehigh Carbon Community College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At LCCC, 32% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $6,449 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $5,961. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. 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 LCCC, freshmen included, 29% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $6,591 a year. It comes to 10.6% greater than the $5,961 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,182 by year two and around $26,364 by the fourth year. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 29% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,591 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,313 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $8,653,368 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at LCCC carry a median federal debt of $6,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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) | $1,705 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $10,230 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $15,565 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at LCCC.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at LCCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 659 | $15,520 |
| Completed (graduates) | 124 | $10,127 |
| Did not complete | 535 | $16,566 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $120.42/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 LCCC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 238 | $11,173 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 421 | $18,374 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at LCCC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for LCCC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1333 |
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 | $6,051 |
| Middle income | $6,000 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,975 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,254 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $7,508 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for LCCC.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Worth Knowing
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.