by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Southern Careers Institute-Austin: 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.
Among first-year students at Southern Careers Institute - Austin, 68% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, for an average of $5,427 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,392, or about 98.0% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Southern Careers Institute - Austin, 56% take out federal student loans, borrowing on average $4,983 a year. That amounts to 7.6% below the $5,392 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $9,966 over two years and about $19,932 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 56% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,983 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 867 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,320,098 |
The median student at Southern Careers Institute - Austin borrows $7,389 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,389 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $8,708 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,354 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Southern Careers Institute - Austin.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,687 |
| 25th percentile | $4,750 |
| 75th percentile | $9,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $9,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Southern Careers Institute - Austin.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Southern Careers Institute - Austin.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 681 | $4,604 |
| Completed (graduates) | 513 | $4,845 |
| Did not complete | 168 | $3,207 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $57.61/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 Southern Careers Institute - Austin.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 658 | $4,690 |
| No Stafford loan | 23 | $1,143 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 619 | $4,680 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 62 | $3,198 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Southern Careers Institute - Austin.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Southern Careers Institute - Austin appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 17.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1631 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,421 |
| Middle income | $7,125 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,389 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,319 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $7,125 |
| Independent students | $7,917 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Southern Careers Institute - Austin.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
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.