by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Tidewater Tech-Trades: 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 Tidewater Tech-Trades, 74% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, for an average of $8,979 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $7,614. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Counting every undergraduate at Tidewater Tech-Trades, 39% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $7,578 a year. It comes to 0.5% smaller than the $7,614 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $15,156 by year two and around $30,312 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 | 39% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,578 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 198 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,500,433 |
The median student at Tidewater Tech-Trades borrows $9,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,300 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Tidewater Tech-Trades.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $9,895 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $14,750 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Tidewater Tech-Trades.
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 Tidewater Tech-Trades.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 71 | $8,293 |
| Completed (graduates) | 46 | $10,472 |
| Did not complete | 25 | $5,744 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $124.52/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Tidewater Tech-Trades.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 55 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 16 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Tidewater Tech-Trades.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Tidewater Tech-Trades follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 28.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 374 |
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 | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $6,393 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Tidewater Tech-Trades.
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.
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.