by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend San Joaquin Valley College-Fresno, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At San Joaquin Valley College-Fresno specifically, 77% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $7,937 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $7,877. This reaches or tops the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap for a typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at San Joaquin Valley College-Fresno, freshmen included, 64% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $6,676 per year. That is 15.2% lower than the $7,877 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,352 over two years and about $26,704 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 64% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,676 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 490 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,271,098 |
The middle borrower at San Joaquin Valley College-Fresno owes $9,773 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,773 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,674 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 San Joaquin Valley College-Fresno.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,920 |
| 25th percentile | $9,474 |
| 75th percentile | $19,977 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $20,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at San Joaquin Valley College-Fresno.
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 Joaquin Valley College-Fresno.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1813 | $6,811 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1324 | $7,571 |
| Did not complete | 489 | $4,639 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $90.03/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at San Joaquin Valley College-Fresno.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1750 | $6,991 |
| No Stafford loan | 63 | $2,635 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1668 | $6,981 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 145 | $4,589 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. San Joaquin Valley College-Fresno.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for San Joaquin Valley College-Fresno follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 18.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 4952 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $10,118 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $9,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,699 |
| Continuing-generation students | $10,574 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $7,667 |
| Independent students | $10,550 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at San Joaquin Valley College-Fresno.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
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.