by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Shasta College— 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.
Looking at the entering class at Shasta College, 6% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $6,967 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $6,967. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
For undergraduates overall at Shasta College, 5% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $6,937 a year. That amounts to 0.4% below the freshman federal average of $6,967.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,874 after two years and $27,748 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 5% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,937 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 258 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,789,627 |
The median student at Shasta College borrows $9,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $14,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Shasta College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $10,137 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $16,235 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Shasta College.
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 Shasta College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 266 | $11,833 |
| Completed (graduates) | 31 | $17,465 |
| Did not complete | 235 | $11,025 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $207.68/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Shasta College.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 24 | $9,595 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 242 | $11,936 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Shasta College.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Shasta College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 413 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $8,927 |
| High income | $9,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $10,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Shasta College.
The Difference Between 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.