by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Schuyler Steuben Chemung Tioga Allegany BOCES— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at Greater Southern Tier BOCES, 93% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $8,077 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $8,077. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for 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 Greater Southern Tier BOCES (freshmen included), 74% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $6,040 each per year. It comes to 25.2% lower than the $8,077 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,080 by year two and around $24,160 over four years. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 74% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,040 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 136 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $821,507 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Greater Southern Tier BOCES carry a median federal debt of $9,323 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,323 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,750 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Greater Southern Tier BOCES.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $9,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $9,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Greater Southern Tier BOCES.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Greater Southern Tier BOCES.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 28 | $8,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Greater Southern Tier BOCES.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Greater Southern Tier BOCES follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 9.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 108 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Greater Southern Tier BOCES.
Subsidized vs. 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.
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.