by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend South Texas Vocational Technical Institute-San Antonio— 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.
Among first-year students at South Texas Vo-Tech, 77% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $6,540 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $6,540. 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), 73% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $6,284 each per year. That amounts to 3.9% smaller than the $6,540 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,568 in two years and roughly $25,136 by the fourth year. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 73% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,284 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 740 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,649,995 |
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 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 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 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at South Texas Vo-Tech.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at 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 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $71.43/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at South Texas Vo-Tech.
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 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. South Texas Vo-Tech.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for South Texas Vo-Tech appears 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.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| 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 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| 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 South Texas Vo-Tech.
Subsidized vs. 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
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.