by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend San Antonio College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at San Antonio College, 3% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $5,304 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,304, which is 96.4% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. 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 San Antonio College, freshmen included, 5% take out federal student loans, at an average of $6,286 a year. That is 18.5% above the $5,304 borrowed by freshmen.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,572 in two years and roughly $25,144 over four years. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 5% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,286 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 839 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,274,285 |
The median student at San Antonio College borrows $6,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,672 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for San Antonio College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,000 |
| 75th percentile | $12,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $24,250 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at San Antonio College.
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 San Antonio College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 952 | $10,877 |
| Completed (graduates) | 108 | $9,085 |
| Did not complete | 844 | $11,398 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $108.03/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 San Antonio College.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 923 | $11,000 |
| No Stafford loan | 29 | $10,099 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 131 | $8,793 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 821 | $11,742 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. San Antonio College.
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 San Antonio College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1320 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,031 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,875 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,000 |
| Independent students | $9,000 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at San Antonio College.
The Difference Between 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.
Did You Know?
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.