by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Western Technical College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Western Technical College, 41% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $1,913 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $1,913, representing 34.8% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at Western Technical College (freshmen included), 27% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $1,913 each per year.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $3,826 over two years and about $7,652 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 | 27% |
| Average federal loan per year | $1,913 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 558 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,067,220 |
The median student at Western Technical College borrows $13,406 in federal student loans.
| 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.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below 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.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for 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 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $105.83/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Western Technical College.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 309 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 15 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Western Technical College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Western Technical College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 946 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,812 |
| Middle income | $14,249 |
| High income | $14,103 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,561 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,974 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| 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
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.