by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Mercer County 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.
At Mercer County Community College specifically, 19% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $6,616 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,129, which is 93.3% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at Mercer County Community College, 16% finance part of their studies with federal loans, borrowing on average $5,773 in federal loans per year. That is 12.6% larger than the $5,129 borrowed by freshmen.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $11,546 over two years and about $23,092 across a four-year program. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 16% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,773 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 818 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,722,625 |
The median student at Mercer County Community College borrows $7,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,842 |
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 Mercer County Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,500 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $9,480 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $15,355 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Mercer County Community College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Mercer County Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 426 | $18,558 |
| Completed (graduates) | 70 | $15,293 |
| Did not complete | 356 | $19,101 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $181.85/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Mercer County Community College.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 415 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 11 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 82 | $15,336 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 344 | $19,812 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Mercer County Community College.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Mercer County Community College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 20.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 726 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,000 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $7,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,475 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| 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 Mercer County Community College.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.