by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for North Central Texas College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Among first-year students at NCTC, 17% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $5,111 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $4,821, which is 87.7% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
For undergraduates overall at NCTC, 27% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $5,893 a year. That amounts to 22.2% greater than the $4,821 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,786 after two years and $23,572 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 27% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,893 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,533 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $9,034,407 |
The median student at NCTC borrows $6,020 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,020 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,250 |
| 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Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 NCTC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $2,250 |
| 75th percentile | $7,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $13,266 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at NCTC.
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 NCTC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 675 | $14,199 |
| Completed (graduates) | 80 | $8,924 |
| Did not complete | 595 | $15,630 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $106.12/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at NCTC.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 644 | $14,176 |
| No Stafford loan | 31 | $15,700 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 228 | $11,133 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 447 | $16,502 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at NCTC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for NCTC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1199 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,045 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,447 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at NCTC.
The Difference Between 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?
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.