by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend South Texas Vocational Technical Institute-Brownsville: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At South Texas Vo-Tech, 81% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $5,588 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $5,531. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at South Texas Vo-Tech (freshmen included), 76% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $5,634 a year. This works out to 1.9% higher than the $5,531 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $11,268 in two years and roughly $22,536 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 76% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,634 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 398 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,242,164 |
The median student at South Texas Vo-Tech borrows $10,661 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $10,661 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $15,917 |
| 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.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for South Texas Vo-Tech.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,530 |
| 25th percentile | $6,333 |
| 75th percentile | $13,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $16,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at South Texas Vo-Tech.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for South Texas Vo-Tech.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1418 | $5,198 |
| Completed (graduates) | 847 | $6,007 |
| Did not complete | 571 | $4,120 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $71.43/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at South Texas Vo-Tech.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1404 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1271 | $5,093 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 147 | $6,500 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for South Texas Vo-Tech.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for South Texas Vo-Tech is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1420 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $10,657 |
| Middle income | $11,457 |
| High income | $9,111 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $10,587 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,139 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $9,500 |
| Independent students | $11,943 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for South Texas Vo-Tech.
Subsidized and 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.
Worth Knowing
Declaring bankruptcy does not erase federal student loan debt. If you stop paying, the federal government can garnish a portion of your wages until the loans are repaid.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.