by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Tulsa Welding School-Jacksonville: 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.
Looking at the entering class at TWS, 69% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $7,316 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $6,886. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Counting every undergraduate at TWS, 62% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $6,394 each per year. That amounts to 7.1% less than the freshman federal average of $6,886.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,788 over two years and about $25,576 by the fourth year. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 62% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,394 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 493 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,152,096 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at TWS carry a median federal debt of $6,886 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,886 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for TWS.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,400 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $9,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $9,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at TWS.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for TWS.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1703 | $12,603 |
| Completed (graduates) | 1292 | $14,578 |
| Did not complete | 411 | $8,019 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $173.35/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at TWS.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1638 | $12,877 |
| No Stafford loan | 65 | $4,331 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1602 | $13,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 101 | $4,674 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. TWS.
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 TWS is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 14.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1866 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,125 |
| Middle income | $6,310 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,018 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,145 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for TWS.
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.
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.