by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for NorthWest Arkansas Community College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at NWACC, 18% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $4,778 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,638, equal to roughly 84.3% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year 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.
Counting every undergraduate at NWACC, 17% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $5,890 a year. That is 27.0% higher than the $4,638 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $11,780 in two years and roughly $23,560 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 17% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,890 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 890 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,241,834 |
The middle borrower at NWACC owes $5,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,506 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,955 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for NWACC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $12,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $24,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at NWACC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at NWACC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 465 | $13,638 |
| Completed (graduates) | 54 | $10,030 |
| Did not complete | 411 | $14,000 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $119.27/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at NWACC.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 445 | $13,638 |
| No Stafford loan | 20 | $14,917 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 136 | $9,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 329 | $15,057 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for NWACC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for NWACC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1153 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,500 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,250 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,420 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,000 |
| Independent students | $9,267 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at NWACC.
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
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.