by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Westmoreland County Community College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at Westmoreland College, 41% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, borrowing on average $5,144 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $4,944, which is 89.9% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Counting every undergraduate at Westmoreland College, 43% take out federal student loans, for a typical $5,764 per year. This is 16.6% larger than the freshman federal average of $4,944.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $11,528 over two years and about $23,056 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 43% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,764 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,120 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,456,206 |
The middle borrower at Westmoreland College owes $8,977 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,977 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,832 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Westmoreland College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,037 |
| 25th percentile | $3,342 |
| 75th percentile | $11,746 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $18,387 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Westmoreland College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Westmoreland College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 569 | $14,600 |
| Completed (graduates) | 36 | $11,612 |
| Did not complete | 533 | $15,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $138.08/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Westmoreland College.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 556 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 13 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 258 | $9,855 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 311 | $20,085 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Westmoreland College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Westmoreland College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1298 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
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 | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $7,563 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,162 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,584 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,768 |
| Independent students | $9,820 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Westmoreland College.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
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.