by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend New England College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at NEC, 75% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $10,101 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,724. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Looking at all undergraduates at NEC, freshmen included, 72% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $6,750 each per year. That amounts to 17.9% larger than the $5,724 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,500 across two years and $27,000 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 | 72% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,750 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 705 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,758,543 |
The median student at NEC borrows $15,603 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,603 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,250 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for NEC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,354 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $21,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at NEC.
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 NEC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 648 | $20,813 |
| Completed (graduates) | 207 | $29,000 |
| Did not complete | 441 | $18,677 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $344.84/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at NEC.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 591 | $21,360 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 57 | $13,000 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. NEC.
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 NEC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 772 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,000 |
| Middle income | $17,000 |
| High income | $15,250 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,259 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,903 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,250 |
| Independent students | $17,753 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at NEC.
Subsidized vs. 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.
Worth Knowing
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.