by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Madison Area Technical 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.
At Madison College specifically, 16% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, averaging $5,934 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $5,373, amounting to 97.7% 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.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Madison College, 22% take out federal student loans, averaging $6,380 annually. It comes to 18.7% greater than the first-year federal average of $5,373.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,760 in two years and roughly $25,520 after four. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 22% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,380 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,052 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $13,090,849 |
The median student at Madison College borrows $8,728 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,728 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $14,060 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,200 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Madison College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $15,915 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,457 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Madison College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Madison College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 606 | $11,450 |
| Completed (graduates) | 118 | $11,272 |
| Did not complete | 488 | $11,750 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $134.04/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Madison College.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 596 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 314 | $9,953 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 292 | $14,000 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Madison College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Madison College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3017 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,750 |
| Middle income | $8,000 |
| High income | $6,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,250 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,000 |
| Independent students | $11,590 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Madison College.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
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.