by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Southern Union State Community College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Southern Union State Community College, 29% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $4,878 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,395, amounting to 79.9% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at Southern Union State Community College, freshmen included, 27% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $4,431 annually. That is 0.8% larger than the $4,395 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $8,862 across two years and $17,724 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 27% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,431 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,048 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,643,470 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Southern Union State Community College carry a median federal debt of $6,250 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Union State Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $9,600 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $16,834 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Southern Union State Community College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Southern Union State Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 312 | $17,685 |
| Completed (graduates) | 35 | $12,000 |
| Did not complete | 277 | $17,891 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $142.69/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Southern Union State Community College.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 298 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 14 | — |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 108 | $12,021 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 204 | $22,336 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Southern Union State Community College.
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 Southern Union State Community College appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 16.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 987 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,500 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $6,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,499 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Southern Union State Community College.
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?
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.