by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Mineral Area College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at MAC, 14% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $5,272 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,060, equal to roughly 92.0% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at MAC (freshmen included), 16% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $6,154 each per year. It comes to 21.6% more than the first-year federal average of $5,060.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,308 by year two and around $24,616 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 | 16% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,154 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 243 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,495,388 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at MAC carry a median federal debt of $7,815 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,815 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,000 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 MAC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,960 |
| 25th percentile | $3,410 |
| 75th percentile | $13,712 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $22,750 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at MAC.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for MAC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 96 | $9,742 |
| Completed (graduates) | 41 | $7,732 |
| Did not complete | 55 | $9,891 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $91.94/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at MAC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 37 | $7,481 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 59 | $9,904 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. MAC.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for MAC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 18.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 559 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,668 |
| Middle income | $7,000 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,400 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $12,417 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for MAC.
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?
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.