by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at NWTC, 18% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $5,037 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,068, amounting to 92.1% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at NWTC (freshmen included), 20% take out federal student loans, borrowing on average $5,989 per year. It comes to 18.2% higher than the $5,068 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,978 over two years and about $23,956 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 20% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,989 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,173 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,025,163 |
The middle borrower at NWTC owes $8,887 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,887 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,719 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,119 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for NWTC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,795 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $14,384 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $24,275 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at NWTC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at NWTC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 583 | $9,500 |
| Completed (graduates) | 104 | $9,818 |
| Did not complete | 479 | $9,489 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $116.75/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at NWTC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 240 | $7,559 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 343 | $11,300 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at NWTC.
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 NWTC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 14.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2091 |
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 | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $8,249 |
| High income | $7,750 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,076 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,250 |
| Independent students | $10,562 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at NWTC.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.