by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for North Seattle College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At North Seattle specifically, 5% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $6,553 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,536. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Counting every undergraduate at North Seattle, 4% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $6,464 in federal loans per year. This is 16.8% larger than the $5,536 typical freshmen borrow.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,928 in two years and roughly $25,856 by the fourth year. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 4% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,464 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 108 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $698,069 |
The median student at North Seattle borrows $7,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $15,458 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,334 |
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 North Seattle.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,667 |
| 25th percentile | $2,700 |
| 75th percentile | $9,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $17,504 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at North Seattle.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for North Seattle.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 548 | $19,990 |
| Completed (graduates) | 72 | $18,548 |
| Did not complete | 476 | $21,148 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $220.56/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at North Seattle.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 531 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 17 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 25 | $14,075 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 523 | $21,257 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at North Seattle.
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 North Seattle follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 0 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,185 |
| Middle income | $7,125 |
| High income | $6,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,146 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,313 |
| Independent students | $7,749 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at North Seattle.
Subsidized and 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.
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.