by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Los Medanos College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at Los Medanos, 1% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $6,930 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $6,930. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit 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.
For undergraduates overall at Los Medanos, 2% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $7,131 annually. This works out to 2.9% more than the $6,930 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $14,262 across two years and $28,524 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 | 2% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,131 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 110 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $784,438 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Los Medanos carry a median federal debt of $9,326 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,326 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Los Medanos.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,250 |
| 75th percentile | $10,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $16,500 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Los Medanos.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Los Medanos.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 555 | $15,576 |
| Completed (graduates) | 40 | $17,504 |
| Did not complete | 515 | $15,422 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $208.14/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 Los Medanos.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 525 | $15,422 |
| No Stafford loan | 30 | $19,005 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 10 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 545 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Los Medanos.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Los Medanos follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 46 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $6,850 |
| High income | $6,250 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,875 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Los Medanos.
The Difference Between 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.