by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend South Seattle College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at South Seattle, 6% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, averaging $7,379 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $6,448. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit 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 South Seattle, freshmen included, 13% take out federal student loans, at an average of $6,215 annually. That amounts to 3.6% under the $6,448 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,430 after two years and $24,860 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 13% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,215 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 191 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,187,071 |
The median student at South Seattle borrows $5,478 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,478 |
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for South Seattle.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,000 |
| 75th percentile | $8,696 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $12,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at South Seattle.
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 South Seattle.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 367 | $14,702 |
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at South Seattle.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 357 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for South Seattle.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for South Seattle is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 0 |
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 | $4,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $4,625 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,870 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for South Seattle.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
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.