by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Odessa College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Odessa College, 1% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $5,625 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $2,500, which is 45.5% 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.
Looking at all undergraduates at Odessa College, freshmen included, 3% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $2,491 per year. That amounts to 0.4% less than the $2,500 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $4,982 in two years and roughly $9,964 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 3% |
| Average federal loan per year | $2,491 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 132 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $328,872 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Odessa College carry a median federal debt of $6,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $7,750 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,504 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Odessa College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,533 |
| 25th percentile | $2,861 |
| 75th percentile | $9,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $17,250 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Odessa College.
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 Odessa College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 158 | $13,164 |
| Completed (graduates) | 22 | $6,596 |
| Did not complete | 136 | $15,895 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $78.43/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 Odessa College.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 15 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 143 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Odessa College.
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 Odessa College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 211 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,267 |
| Middle income | $6,000 |
| High income | $5,750 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,292 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,271 |
| Independent students | $9,112 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Odessa College.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
Important to Remember
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.