by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Milwaukee Area Technical College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at MATC, 26% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $5,670 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,491, which is 99.8% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at MATC, freshmen included, 30% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $6,438 annually. This is 17.2% above the $5,491 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,876 across two years and $25,752 by the fourth year. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 30% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,438 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 3,401 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $21,895,944 |
The middle borrower at MATC owes $9,248 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,248 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $14,955 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,416 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 MATC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,177 |
| 75th percentile | $12,488 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $21,628 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at MATC.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for MATC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 955 | $10,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 135 | $9,356 |
| Did not complete | 820 | $10,166 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $111.25/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at MATC.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 944 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 11 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 500 | $8,883 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 455 | $12,000 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for MATC.
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 MATC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5048 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $8,250 |
| High income | $7,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,611 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,500 |
| Independent students | $10,125 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at MATC.
The Difference Between 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.
Did You Know?
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.