by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for The College of Westchester, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at CW, 73% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $5,344 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $5,344, representing 97.2% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at CW, 66% finance part of their studies with federal loans, borrowing on average $5,587 a year. This is 4.5% larger than the $5,344 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $11,174 in two years and roughly $22,348 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 66% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,587 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 503 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,810,092 |
The middle borrower at CW owes $16,875 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,875 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $26,967 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for CW.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,000 |
| 25th percentile | $7,125 |
| 75th percentile | $27,335 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,737 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at CW.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for CW.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 180 | $9,985 |
| Completed (graduates) | 103 | $12,327 |
| Did not complete | 77 | $7,791 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $146.58/mo.
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. CW.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for CW is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 737 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,890 |
| Middle income | $17,327 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,548 |
| Continuing-generation students | $20,781 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,625 |
| Independent students | $19,677 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for CW.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.