by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Northern Maine Community College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Northern Maine Community College, 14% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $4,920 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,920, or about 89.5% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
For undergraduates overall at Northern Maine Community College, 15% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $5,477 per year. This is 11.3% higher than the $4,920 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $10,954 after two years and $21,908 over four years. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 15% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,477 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 93 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $509,344 |
The middle borrower at Northern Maine Community College owes $8,225 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,225 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,825 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Northern Maine Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,572 |
| 25th percentile | $3,975 |
| 75th percentile | $13,562 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $20,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Northern Maine Community College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Northern Maine Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 45 | $5,000 |
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Northern Maine Community College.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 27 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 18 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Northern Maine Community College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Northern Maine Community College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 12.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 296 |
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 | $9,486 |
| Middle income | $6,569 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Northern Maine Community College.
Subsidized vs. 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.
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.