by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Onondaga Community College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At OCC specifically, 40% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $5,500 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
Federal loans alone average $4,914, or about 89.3% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. 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 OCC, freshmen included, 34% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $5,342 each per year. That amounts to 8.7% larger than the freshman federal average of $4,914.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $10,684 over two years and about $21,368 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 34% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,342 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,476 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,884,905 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at OCC carry a median federal debt of $5,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 OCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,364 |
| 75th percentile | $10,546 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $15,750 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at OCC.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for OCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 751 | $11,013 |
| Completed (graduates) | 168 | $9,825 |
| Did not complete | 583 | $11,486 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $116.83/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at OCC.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 733 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 18 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 378 | $8,690 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 373 | $14,870 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. OCC.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for OCC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2333 |
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 | $5,555 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,585 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $8,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at OCC.
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.
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.