by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Southwest Tech, 51% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $3,888 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $3,798, representing 69.1% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Looking at all undergraduates at Southwest Tech, freshmen included, 48% finance part of their studies with federal loans, averaging $4,057 each per year. That amounts to 6.8% more than the $3,798 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $8,114 over two years and about $16,228 over four years. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 48% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,057 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 620 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,515,094 |
The middle borrower at Southwest Tech owes $5,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $7,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $3,956 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Southwest Tech.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $9,400 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $13,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Southwest Tech.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Southwest Tech.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 75 | $6,413 |
| Completed (graduates) | 41 | $8,106 |
| Did not complete | 34 | $5,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $96.39/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 Southwest Tech.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 44 | $6,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 31 | $8,106 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Southwest Tech.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Southwest Tech follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 515 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,750 |
| Middle income | $6,050 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $6,575 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Southwest Tech.
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?
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.