by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Virginia Western Community College: 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 Virginia Western Community College specifically, 5% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, averaging $4,155 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,155, representing 75.5% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at Virginia Western Community College (freshmen included), 7% rely on federal student loans toward their education, averaging $5,605 each per year. It comes to 34.9% more than the $4,155 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $11,210 by year two and around $22,420 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 7% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,605 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 279 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,563,704 |
The middle borrower at Virginia Western Community College owes $7,200 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,200 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Virginia Western Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $13,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $23,758 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Virginia Western Community College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Virginia Western Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 403 | $14,373 |
| Completed (graduates) | 105 | $13,000 |
| Did not complete | 298 | $15,067 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $154.58/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Virginia Western Community College.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 388 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 15 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 88 | $11,763 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 315 | $14,909 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Virginia Western Community College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Virginia Western Community College appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 12.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 745 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,200 |
| Middle income | $6,200 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,822 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Virginia Western Community College.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
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.