by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Technical College of the Lowcountry— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at TCL, 8% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $4,246 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $4,246, which is 77.2% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. 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 TCL, freshmen included, 10% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $6,564 a year. That is 54.6% more than the $4,246 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,128 in two years and roughly $26,256 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 10% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,564 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 163 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,070,009 |
The median student at TCL borrows $6,431 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,431 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for TCL.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,553 |
| 25th percentile | $2,752 |
| 75th percentile | $11,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $20,146 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at TCL.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at TCL.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 161 | $11,708 |
| Completed (graduates) | 33 | $11,000 |
| Did not complete | 128 | $12,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $130.8/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at TCL.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 43 | $8,821 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 118 | $13,837 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at TCL.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for TCL is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 225 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,500 |
| Middle income | $6,431 |
| High income | $5,348 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,817 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,696 |
| Independent students | $7,845 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for TCL.
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?
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.