by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for The College of Health Care Professions-Southwest Houston: 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 CHCP - Southwest Houston, 84% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $6,342 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $6,342. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at CHCP - Southwest Houston, freshmen included, 72% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $5,830 a year. This is 8.1% under the $6,342 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $11,660 across two years and $23,320 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 72% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,830 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 766 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,465,626 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at CHCP - Southwest Houston carry a median federal debt of $9,473 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,473 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,005 |
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 CHCP - Southwest Houston.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,926 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $14,695 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $20,867 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at CHCP - Southwest Houston.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for CHCP - Southwest Houston.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1000 | $5,651 |
| Completed (graduates) | 775 | $5,859 |
| Did not complete | 225 | $4,705 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $69.67/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at CHCP - Southwest Houston.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 967 | $5,702 |
| No Stafford loan | 33 | $1,990 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 917 | $5,701 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 83 | $4,649 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for CHCP - Southwest Houston.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for CHCP - Southwest Houston is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 20.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 932 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,499 |
| Middle income | $9,311 |
| High income | $7,793 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,450 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at CHCP - Southwest Houston.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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.
Important to Remember
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.