by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Mohawk Valley Community College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Among first-year students at MVCC, 34% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $5,640 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $5,387, or about 97.9% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Counting every undergraduate at MVCC, 32% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $6,040 annually. It comes to 12.1% more than the $5,387 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,080 after two years and $24,160 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 32% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,040 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 959 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,792,168 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at MVCC carry a median federal debt of $7,467 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,467 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at MVCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,000 |
| 75th percentile | $12,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $18,882 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at MVCC.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for MVCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 366 | $10,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 101 | $10,000 |
| Did not complete | 265 | $10,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $118.91/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at MVCC.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 247 | $7,637 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 119 | $14,883 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. MVCC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for MVCC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 12.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1728 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,875 |
| Middle income | $6,941 |
| High income | $7,750 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,791 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at MVCC.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
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.