by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Waukesha County Technical 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 WCTC specifically, 15% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $5,787 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $5,787. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at WCTC (freshmen included), 14% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $5,838 per year. This works out to 0.9% higher than the $5,787 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $11,676 across two years and $23,352 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 14% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,838 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 638 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,724,375 |
The median student at WCTC borrows $9,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,244 |
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 WCTC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,250 |
| 25th percentile | $4,083 |
| 75th percentile | $16,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,488 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at WCTC.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for WCTC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 324 | $11,823 |
| Completed (graduates) | 102 | $12,000 |
| Did not complete | 222 | $11,759 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $142.69/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 WCTC.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 107 | $10,475 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 217 | $13,295 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at WCTC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for WCTC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1185 |
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 | $9,880 |
| Middle income | $9,439 |
| High income | $8,250 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,684 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,500 |
| Independent students | $10,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for WCTC.
Subsidized vs. 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.
Did You Know?
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.