by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Southwestern Michigan College: 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 SMC specifically, 21% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $5,418 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $4,879, or about 88.7% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at SMC, 23% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $5,194 per year. It comes to 6.5% higher than the freshman federal average of $4,879.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $10,388 in two years and roughly $20,776 by the fourth year. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 23% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,194 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 317 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,646,402 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at SMC carry a median federal debt of $5,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,959 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for SMC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,012 |
| 25th percentile | $3,564 |
| 75th percentile | $12,599 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $19,352 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at SMC.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at SMC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 136 | $8,775 |
| Completed (graduates) | 39 | $9,700 |
| Did not complete | 97 | $7,785 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $115.34/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at SMC.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 123 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 13 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 76 | $7,106 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 60 | $13,305 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for SMC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for SMC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 24.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 336 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,500 |
| Middle income | $6,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,525 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at SMC.
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.