by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Southeastern College-Columbia: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Southeastern College - Columbia specifically, 89% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $13,686 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $8,686. This reaches or tops the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap for a 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 Southeastern College - Columbia, freshmen included, 89% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $8,749 in federal loans per year. It comes to 0.7% above the $8,686 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $17,498 by year two and around $34,996 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 | 89% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,749 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 221 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,933,467 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Southeastern College - Columbia carry a median federal debt of $7,811 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,811 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Southeastern College - Columbia.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $6,000 |
| 75th percentile | $9,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $13,213 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Southeastern College - Columbia.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Southeastern College - Columbia.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 52 | $8,733 |
| Completed (graduates) | 30 | $9,928 |
| Did not complete | 22 | $3,975 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $118.05/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 Southeastern College - Columbia.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 42 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 10 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Southeastern College - Columbia.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Southeastern College - Columbia follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 192 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,811 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,811 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,811 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $7,811 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Southeastern College - Columbia.
The Difference Between 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.
Did You Know?
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.