by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Western Technical 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.
At Western Technical College specifically, 30% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, averaging $2,750 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $2,750, equal to roughly 50.0% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a 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.
Looking at all undergraduates at Western Technical College, freshmen included, 23% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $5,200 annually. That amounts to 89.1% higher than the $2,750 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $10,400 across two years and $20,800 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 23% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,200 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 188 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $977,600 |
The middle borrower at Western Technical College owes $13,406 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,406 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $17,277 |
| Students who withdrew | $6,932 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Western Technical College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,718 |
| 25th percentile | $6,741 |
| 75th percentile | $19,781 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $25,250 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Western Technical College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Western Technical College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 324 | $8,734 |
| Completed (graduates) | 264 | $8,900 |
| Did not complete | 60 | $6,744 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $105.83/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Western Technical College.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 309 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 15 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Western Technical College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Western Technical College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 946 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,812 |
| Middle income | $14,249 |
| High income | $14,103 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,561 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,974 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $14,750 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Western Technical College.
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.
Important to Remember
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.