by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Mt Hood Community College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at MHCC, 22% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $5,700 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,659. 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 MHCC, 23% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $6,261 in federal loans per year. This is 10.6% larger than the first-year federal average of $5,659.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,522 by year two and around $25,044 by the fourth year. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 23% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,261 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 825 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,164,973 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at MHCC carry a median federal debt of $7,339 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,339 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $13,667 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,563 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for MHCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,462 |
| 25th percentile | $2,794 |
| 75th percentile | $12,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $19,901 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at MHCC.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at MHCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 311 | $11,752 |
| Completed (graduates) | 41 | $11,483 |
| Did not complete | 270 | $11,786 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $136.55/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at MHCC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 126 | $9,103 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 185 | $15,052 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. MHCC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for MHCC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1918 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,500 |
| Middle income | $7,000 |
| High income | $6,009 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,337 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at MHCC.
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
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.