by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for San Joaquin Valley College-Lancaster: 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.
At San Joaquin Valley College-Lancaster, 90% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $8,002 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $7,882. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at San Joaquin Valley College-Lancaster (freshmen included), 78% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $6,536 each per year. This is 17.1% less than the $7,882 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,072 by year two and around $26,144 over four years. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 78% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,536 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 319 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,085,001 |
The middle borrower at San Joaquin Valley College-Lancaster owes $9,773 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,773 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,674 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,750 |
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 San Joaquin Valley College-Lancaster.
| 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 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at San Joaquin Valley College-Lancaster.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for San Joaquin Valley College-Lancaster.
| 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.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at San Joaquin Valley College-Lancaster.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1750 | $6,991 |
| No Stafford loan | 63 | $2,635 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1668 | $6,981 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 145 | $4,589 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for San Joaquin Valley College-Lancaster.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for San Joaquin Valley College-Lancaster is shown below.
| 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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| 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 |
By Dependency Status
| 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-Lancaster.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.