by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Western Dakota Technical College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Western Dakota Tech, 53% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $6,813 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $6,491. This reaches or tops the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap for a typical dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at Western Dakota Tech (freshmen included), 59% take out federal student loans, at an average of $7,495 a year. This is 15.5% larger than the $6,491 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $14,990 in two years and roughly $29,980 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 59% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,495 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 434 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,252,770 |
The median student at Western Dakota Tech borrows $9,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $15,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
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 Western Dakota Tech.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,575 |
| 75th percentile | $12,768 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $19,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Western Dakota Tech.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Western Dakota Tech.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 89 | $6,145 |
| Completed (graduates) | 43 | $9,000 |
| Did not complete | 46 | $6,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $107.02/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Western Dakota Tech.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 74 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 15 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Western Dakota Tech.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Western Dakota Tech appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 13.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 572 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $10,250 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $8,250 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $8,190 |
| Independent students | $11,338 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Western Dakota Tech.
Subsidized and 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.
Important to Remember
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.