by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Montana Technological University— 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 Montana Tech, 44% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $6,464 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,928, equal to roughly 89.6% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at Montana Tech, 39% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $5,989 per year. It comes to 21.5% more than the $4,928 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,978 in two years and roughly $23,956 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 | 39% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,989 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 563 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,372,010 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Montana Tech carry a median federal debt of $9,847 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,847 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $18,750 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,523 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Montana Tech.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $4,750 |
| 75th percentile | $25,575 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $37,525 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Montana Tech.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Montana Tech.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 329 | $10,600 |
| Completed (graduates) | 130 | $12,000 |
| Did not complete | 199 | $9,871 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $142.69/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Montana Tech.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 318 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 11 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 258 | $10,202 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 71 | $12,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Montana Tech.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Montana Tech appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 661 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $10,500 |
| Middle income | $9,361 |
| High income | $9,724 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $10,400 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $8,250 |
| Independent students | $13,217 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Montana Tech.
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.
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.