by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Smith Chason 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.
Looking at the entering class at West Coast Ultrasound Institute, 94% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $10,835 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $8,815. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at West Coast Ultrasound Institute (freshmen included), 85% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $11,097 in federal loans per year. This works out to 25.9% more than the $8,815 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $22,194 after two years and $44,388 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 85% |
| Average federal loan per year | $11,097 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,896 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $21,039,340 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at West Coast Ultrasound Institute carry a median federal debt of $16,640 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,640 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $21,397 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at West Coast Ultrasound Institute.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $9,500 |
| 75th percentile | $20,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $24,418 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at West Coast Ultrasound Institute.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for West Coast Ultrasound Institute.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 250 | $10,300 |
| Completed (graduates) | 165 | $11,765 |
| Did not complete | 85 | $9,368 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $139.9/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at West Coast Ultrasound Institute.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 236 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 14 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. West Coast Ultrasound Institute.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for West Coast Ultrasound Institute is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 537 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,640 |
| Middle income | $16,640 |
| High income | $17,597 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,640 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,071 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,799 |
| Independent students | $18,326 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for West Coast Ultrasound Institute.
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.