by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Gary Manuel Aveda Institute— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at GMAI, 88% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $12,126 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $6,957. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
For undergraduates overall at GMAI, 26% take out federal student loans, for a typical $8,116 in federal loans per year. This is 16.7% higher than the $6,957 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $16,232 in two years and roughly $32,464 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 | 26% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,116 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 110 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $892,722 |
The middle borrower at GMAI owes $7,773 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,773 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $7,773 |
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at GMAI.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,584 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $13,973 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $17,667 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at GMAI.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for GMAI.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for GMAI is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 111 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $7,773 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,692 |
| Independent students | $7,773 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at GMAI.
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
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.