by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Northwest Florida State College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at NWFSC, 40% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $5,495 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,495, amounting to 99.9% 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.
For undergraduates overall at NWFSC, 32% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $2,358 in federal loans per year. This is 57.1% below the freshman federal average of $5,495.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $4,716 after two years and $9,432 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 32% |
| Average federal loan per year | $2,358 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,017 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,397,739 |
The median student at NWFSC borrows $5,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $7,932 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 NWFSC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,557 |
| 25th percentile | $1,750 |
| 75th percentile | $6,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $11,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at NWFSC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at NWFSC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 160 | $10,500 |
| Completed (graduates) | 59 | $10,500 |
| Did not complete | 101 | $10,249 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $124.86/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at NWFSC.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 44 | $8,993 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 116 | $10,983 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. NWFSC.
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 NWFSC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 443 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,656 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,259 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,030 |
| Independent students | $6,750 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for NWFSC.
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.
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.