by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Metropolitan Community College Area: 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.
At MCC, 13% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $3,832 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
Federal loans alone average $3,832, which is 69.7% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Counting every undergraduate at MCC, 14% take out federal student loans, at an average of $4,405 a year. That is 15.0% above the freshman federal average of $3,832.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $8,810 in two years and roughly $17,620 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 14% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,405 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,049 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,620,553 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at MCC carry a median federal debt of $4,061 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $4,061 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $8,217 |
| Students who withdrew | $3,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for MCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $875 |
| 25th percentile | $1,613 |
| 75th percentile | $7,007 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $12,558 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at MCC.
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 MCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1748 | $13,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 203 | $9,704 |
| Did not complete | 1545 | $13,570 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $115.39/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at MCC.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1704 | $13,007 |
| No Stafford loan | 44 | $8,325 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 319 | $8,523 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 1429 | $14,303 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. MCC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for MCC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2227 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $3,661 |
| Middle income | $4,128 |
| High income | $4,128 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $4,017 |
| Continuing-generation students | $4,128 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $3,552 |
| Independent students | $4,534 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for MCC.
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
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.