by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Midlands Technical 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.
At MTC specifically, 16% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $6,294 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,626, or about 84.1% 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.
For undergraduates overall at MTC, 17% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $4,311 in federal loans per year. That is 6.8% smaller than the $4,626 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $8,622 after two years and $17,244 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 | 17% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,311 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,263 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,444,627 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at MTC carry a median federal debt of $6,750 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,750 |
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 MTC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $2,910 |
| 75th percentile | $10,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $17,679 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at MTC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at MTC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1124 | $12,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 233 | $11,158 |
| Did not complete | 891 | $12,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $132.68/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at MTC.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1084 | $12,000 |
| No Stafford loan | 40 | $10,265 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 568 | $10,654 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 556 | $13,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at MTC.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for MTC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3585 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,250 |
| Middle income | $6,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,866 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,750 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $8,360 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at MTC.
Subsidized and 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.
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.