by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Walla Walla Community College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Walla Walla Community College, 17% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, with a typical loan of $6,187 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,602. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a 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.
Counting every undergraduate at Walla Walla Community College, 16% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $7,038 annually. It comes to 25.6% above the freshman federal average of $5,602.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $14,076 after two years and $28,152 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 | 16% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,038 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 371 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,611,000 |
The middle borrower at Walla Walla Community College owes $9,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $14,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,167 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Walla Walla Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,668 |
| 75th percentile | $15,668 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $23,622 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Walla Walla Community College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Walla Walla Community College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 104 | $11,017 |
| Completed (graduates) | 35 | $14,029 |
| Did not complete | 69 | $10,800 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $166.82/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at Walla Walla Community College.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 52 | $9,191 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 52 | $14,084 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Walla Walla 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 Walla Walla Community College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 12.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 675 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $11,300 |
| Middle income | $9,083 |
| High income | $6,975 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,551 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,176 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,500 |
| Independent students | $12,704 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Walla Walla Community College.
Subsidized vs. 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
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.