by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend SUNY College of Technology at Alfred: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at Alfred State, 72% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $7,739 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,223, which is 95.0% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at Alfred State (freshmen included), 61% finance part of their studies with federal loans, borrowing on average $5,969 per year. This works out to 14.3% above the $5,223 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,938 by year two and around $23,876 over a four-year span. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 61% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,969 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,137 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $12,756,076 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Alfred State carry a median federal debt of $12,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $13,750 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,159 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Alfred State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $18,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,250 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Alfred State.
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 Alfred State.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 672 | $14,642 |
| Completed (graduates) | 301 | $20,801 |
| Did not complete | 371 | $11,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $247.35/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 Alfred State.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 656 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 16 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 621 | $14,694 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 51 | $14,514 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Alfred State.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Alfred State appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1370 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,000 |
| Middle income | $12,000 |
| High income | $11,977 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $12,982 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Alfred State.
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?
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.