by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Miami Dade 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 MDC specifically, 1% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $4,930 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $4,930, representing 89.6% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
For undergraduates overall at MDC, 3% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $6,413 annually. This works out to 30.1% higher than the $4,930 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,826 across two years and $25,652 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 3% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,413 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,007 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,457,590 |
The median student at MDC borrows $7,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,252 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for MDC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $14,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,500 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at MDC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at MDC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1762 | $9,200 |
| Completed (graduates) | 587 | $8,127 |
| Did not complete | 1175 | $9,500 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $96.64/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at MDC.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1694 | $9,107 |
| No Stafford loan | 68 | $10,213 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 240 | $8,630 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 1522 | $9,249 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. MDC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for MDC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2240 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,500 |
| Middle income | $5,847 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,820 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| 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 MDC.
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.
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.