by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Miller-Motte College-Charleston— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at MMC Charleston, 11% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $6,222 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $11,224. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at MMC Charleston, 24% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $9,713 per year. This works out to 13.5% lower than the first-year federal average of $11,224.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $19,426 after two years and $38,852 over four years. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 24% |
| Average federal loan per year | $9,713 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 51 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $495,344 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at MMC Charleston carry a median federal debt of $10,661 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $10,661 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $15,917 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,334 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 MMC Charleston.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,530 |
| 25th percentile | $6,333 |
| 75th percentile | $13,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $16,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at MMC Charleston.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for MMC Charleston.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1418 | $5,198 |
| Completed (graduates) | 847 | $6,007 |
| Did not complete | 571 | $4,120 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $71.43/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at MMC Charleston.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1404 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1271 | $5,093 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 147 | $6,500 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at MMC Charleston.
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 MMC Charleston appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1420 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $10,657 |
| Middle income | $11,457 |
| High income | $9,111 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $10,587 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,139 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $9,500 |
| Independent students | $11,943 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for MMC Charleston.
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
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.