by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad, 21% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $9,156 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $6,203. This is at or above the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap that applies to the typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad, 37% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $2,615 each per year. It comes to 57.8% under the $6,203 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $5,230 over two years and about $10,460 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 37% |
| Average federal loan per year | $2,615 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 93 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $243,183 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad carry a median federal debt of $8,233 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $8,233 |
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,033 |
| 25th percentile | $4,767 |
| 75th percentile | $8,766 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $12,233 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad.
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 64 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,233 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,766 |
| Independent students | $8,233 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad.
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.
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.