by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Wayne County Community College District— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At WCCCD, 17% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $5,840 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,840. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing 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.
Counting every undergraduate at WCCCD, 12% take out federal student loans, for a typical $5,939 each per year. That is 1.7% larger than the $5,840 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,878 across two years and $23,756 across a four-year program. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 12% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,939 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 971 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,766,610 |
The middle borrower at WCCCD owes $7,421 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,421 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,062 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,229 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 WCCCD.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,500 |
| 25th percentile | $2,679 |
| 75th percentile | $10,228 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $19,173 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at WCCCD.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for WCCCD.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 773 | $10,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 33 | $15,000 |
| Did not complete | 740 | $9,680 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $178.37/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 WCCCD.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 191 | $8,036 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 582 | $10,671 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for WCCCD.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for WCCCD appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 5379 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,500 |
| Middle income | $7,079 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,446 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,755 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,186 |
| Independent students | $8,893 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for WCCCD.
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.