by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for North Central Michigan College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At NCMC, 13% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $4,585 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,432, representing 80.6% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Counting every undergraduate at NCMC, 14% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $5,109 in federal loans per year. This works out to 15.3% higher than the $4,432 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $10,218 over two years and about $20,436 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 14% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,109 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 124 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $633,528 |
The middle borrower at NCMC owes $5,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $14,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,315 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at NCMC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,500 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $9,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $15,644 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at NCMC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at NCMC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 82 | $8,837 |
| Completed (graduates) | 21 | $13,928 |
| Did not complete | 61 | $7,965 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $165.62/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at NCMC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 28 | $5,803 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 54 | $11,131 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for NCMC.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for NCMC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 351 |
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 | $5,750 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $4,890 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,825 |
| Independent students | $7,650 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at NCMC.
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.
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.