by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Southwestern Oregon Community College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At SWOCC specifically, 24% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $5,660 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,921, or about 89.5% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at SWOCC (freshmen included), 24% take out federal student loans, averaging $5,179 per year. That is 5.2% higher than the $4,921 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $10,358 by year two and around $20,716 over four years. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 24% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,179 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 285 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,475,904 |
The middle borrower at SWOCC owes $8,303 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,303 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at SWOCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,877 |
| 25th percentile | $3,768 |
| 75th percentile | $12,521 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $20,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at SWOCC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at SWOCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 95 | $9,715 |
| Completed (graduates) | 28 | $11,086 |
| Did not complete | 67 | $8,669 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $131.82/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 SWOCC.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 62 | $9,321 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 33 | $10,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at SWOCC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for SWOCC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 12.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 412 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,982 |
| Middle income | $8,657 |
| High income | $6,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,080 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,883 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $10,592 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at SWOCC.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
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.