by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Richard Bland College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At RBC specifically, 50% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $5,732 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,210, representing 94.7% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. 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 RBC, freshmen included, 47% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $5,180 in federal loans per year. This is 0.6% smaller than the $5,210 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $10,360 by year two and around $20,720 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 47% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,180 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 374 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,937,426 |
The middle borrower at RBC owes $5,750 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,000 |
| 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.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for RBC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $4,750 |
| 75th percentile | $11,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $15,250 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at RBC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at RBC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 216 | $10,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 37 | $9,814 |
| Did not complete | 179 | $10,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $116.7/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 RBC.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 161 | $8,976 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 55 | $13,843 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for RBC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for RBC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 202 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,846 |
| Middle income | $6,250 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,734 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,863 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $8,236 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at RBC.
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.