by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Mesa Community College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at Mesa Community College, 8% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, averaging $3,638 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $3,271, or about 59.5% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
For undergraduates overall at Mesa Community College, 10% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $3,519 each per year. This works out to 7.6% above the $3,271 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $7,038 across two years and $14,076 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 10% |
| Average federal loan per year | $3,519 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,166 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,103,585 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Mesa Community College carry a median federal debt of $4,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $4,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $7,473 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,500 |
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 Mesa Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $2,115 |
| 75th percentile | $9,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $16,249 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Mesa 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 Mesa Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1329 | $12,964 |
| Completed (graduates) | 111 | $12,349 |
| Did not complete | 1218 | $13,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $146.84/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Mesa Community College.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1275 | $12,856 |
| No Stafford loan | 54 | $14,861 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 309 | $9,918 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 1020 | $14,407 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Mesa 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 Mesa Community College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 14.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3805 |
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 | $4,603 |
| Middle income | $4,500 |
| High income | $3,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $4,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $4,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,000 |
| Independent students | $4,750 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Mesa 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.
Important to Remember
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.