by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Northwest Technical College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at NTC, 42% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $7,134 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $5,054, or about 91.9% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at NTC, freshmen included, 46% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $6,415 each per year. That is 26.9% more than the $5,054 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,830 over two years and about $25,660 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 46% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,415 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 298 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,911,746 |
The middle borrower at NTC owes $9,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $15,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for NTC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,604 |
| 75th percentile | $13,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $21,183 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at NTC.
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 NTC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 45 | $7,144 |
| Completed (graduates) | 20 | $10,000 |
| Did not complete | 25 | $6,705 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $118.91/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at NTC.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 33 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 12 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at NTC.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for NTC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 17.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 539 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $10,081 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $7,250 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $10,251 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,750 |
| Independent students | $12,396 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at NTC.
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.