by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Laurel Ridge Community College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at Lord Fairfax Community College, 6% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $5,825 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,195, equal to roughly 94.5% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at Lord Fairfax Community College (freshmen included), 4% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $5,137 annually. It comes to 1.1% less than the first-year federal average of $5,195.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $10,274 across two years and $20,548 over four years. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 4% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,137 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 142 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $729,434 |
The middle borrower at Lord Fairfax Community College owes $5,982 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,982 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,750 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
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 Lord Fairfax Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,500 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $10,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $19,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Lord Fairfax Community College.
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 Lord Fairfax Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 301 | $12,728 |
| Completed (graduates) | 88 | $12,372 |
| Did not complete | 213 | $12,728 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $147.12/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Lord Fairfax Community College.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 285 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 16 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 63 | $13,273 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 238 | $12,277 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Lord Fairfax Community College.
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 Lord Fairfax Community College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 0 |
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 | $8,500 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,960 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Lord Fairfax Community College.
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
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.