by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Olympic 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.
Among first-year students at OC, 6% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, with a typical loan of $5,572 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $5,682. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Counting every undergraduate at OC, 7% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $6,981 in federal loans per year. It comes to 22.9% above the first-year federal average of $5,682.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,962 by year two and around $27,924 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 7% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,981 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 225 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,570,799 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at OC carry a median federal debt of $8,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,394 |
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 OC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,855 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $14,579 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $23,170 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at OC.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for OC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 352 | $13,600 |
| Completed (graduates) | 60 | $11,436 |
| Did not complete | 292 | $14,284 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $135.99/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 OC.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 325 | $14,704 |
| No Stafford loan | 27 | $10,000 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 44 | $10,742 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 308 | $14,274 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at OC.
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 OC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 500 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $8,837 |
| Middle income | $8,858 |
| High income | $6,477 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,520 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for OC.
The Difference Between 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.