by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend South Texas Vocational Technical Institute-McAllen: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at STVT McAllen, 81% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $7,039 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $7,039. 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.
For undergraduates overall at STVT McAllen, 79% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $6,675 per year. This works out to 5.2% below the $7,039 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,350 across two years and $26,700 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 79% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,675 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 630 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,205,243 |
The median student at STVT McAllen 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.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for STVT McAllen.
| 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 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at STVT McAllen.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for STVT McAllen.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1418 | $5,198 |
| Completed (graduates) | 847 | $6,007 |
| Did not complete | 571 | $4,120 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $71.43/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at STVT McAllen.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1404 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| 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 STVT McAllen.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for STVT McAllen is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1420 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $10,657 |
| Middle income | $11,457 |
| High income | $9,111 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| 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 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at STVT McAllen.
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.
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.