by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical 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.
For incoming students at Southeast, 6% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $4,122 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,122, which is 74.9% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at Southeast, freshmen included, 14% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $4,236 a year. This is 2.8% higher than the $4,122 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $8,472 in two years and roughly $16,944 across a four-year program. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 14% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,236 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 228 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $965,716 |
The middle borrower at Southeast owes $5,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $6,919 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,500 |
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 Southeast.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,000 |
| 75th percentile | $11,721 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $19,835 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Southeast.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Southeast.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 73 | $5,750 |
| Completed (graduates) | 20 | $3,947 |
| Did not complete | 53 | $6,714 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $46.93/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Southeast.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 17 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 56 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Southeast.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Southeast follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 20.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 359 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,400 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $4,680 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,000 |
| Independent students | $5,692 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Southeast.
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.
Important to Remember
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.