by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Orange County Community 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.
At SUNY Orange specifically, 29% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $5,022 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $4,835, amounting to 87.9% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at SUNY Orange, 28% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $6,027 per year. That amounts to 24.7% above the $4,835 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,054 after two years and $24,108 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 | 28% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,027 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,065 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,418,327 |
The middle borrower at SUNY Orange owes $6,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at SUNY Orange.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,050 |
| 75th percentile | $11,298 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $18,310 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at SUNY Orange.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for SUNY Orange.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 433 | $15,804 |
| Completed (graduates) | 81 | $12,689 |
| Did not complete | 352 | $17,013 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $150.89/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at SUNY Orange.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 182 | $12,122 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 251 | $19,589 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. SUNY Orange.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for SUNY Orange follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 804 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,784 |
| Middle income | $6,500 |
| High income | $8,250 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,587 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for SUNY Orange.
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.
