by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Pasco-Hernando State 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.
Looking at the entering class at PHSC, 8% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, averaging $9,041 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $9,041. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for 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 PHSC, 10% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $11,234 each per year. It comes to 24.3% higher than the first-year federal average of $9,041.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $22,468 in two years and roughly $44,936 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 10% |
| Average federal loan per year | $11,234 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 702 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,886,129 |
The middle borrower at PHSC owes $7,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,535 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
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 PHSC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,500 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $10,712 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $19,282 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at PHSC.
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 PHSC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 330 | $9,371 |
| Completed (graduates) | 85 | $9,467 |
| Did not complete | 245 | $9,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $112.57/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 PHSC.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 314 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 16 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 89 | $9,797 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 241 | $8,928 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at PHSC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for PHSC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 14.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 923 |
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 | $8,593 |
| Middle income | $6,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,331 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,571 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at PHSC.
Subsidized vs. 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.
Important to Remember
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.