by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Lorain 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, 5% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $5,039 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federally funded loan is $4,786, amounting to 87.0% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. 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, 13% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $6,828 in federal loans per year. This works out to 42.7% larger than the $4,786 borrowed by freshmen.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,656 after two years and $27,312 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 13% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,828 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 698 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,766,126 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at LCCC carry a median federal debt of $8,917 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,917 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $13,680 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,833 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at LCCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,523 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $13,200 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $23,602 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies 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 | 610 | $12,223 |
| Completed (graduates) | 89 | $8,915 |
| Did not complete | 521 | $12,982 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $106.01/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at LCCC.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 596 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 182 | $9,991 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 428 | $14,219 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. LCCC.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for LCCC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 14.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1874 |
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 | $9,013 |
| Middle income | $9,155 |
| High income | $8,303 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,990 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,750 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $7,550 |
| Independent students | $10,322 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at LCCC.
Subsidized vs. 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
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.