by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for PCI Academy-Ames— 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 PCI Academy-Ames, 75% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $5,178 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federal loan is $5,178, representing 94.1% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at PCI Academy-Ames, 53% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $5,626 in federal loans per year. This works out to 8.7% more than the $5,178 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $11,252 by year two and around $22,504 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 53% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,626 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 133 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $748,272 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at PCI Academy-Ames carry a median federal debt of $4,858 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $4,858 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $5,828 |
| Students who withdrew | $2,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at PCI Academy-Ames.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,333 |
| 25th percentile | $3,666 |
| 75th percentile | $12,677 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $17,083 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at PCI Academy-Ames.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at PCI Academy-Ames.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 86 | $8,360 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at PCI Academy-Ames.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for PCI Academy-Ames is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 163 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,277 |
| Middle income | $5,504 |
| High income | $3,666 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $4,789 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,277 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $3,666 |
| Independent students | $6,211 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for PCI Academy-Ames.
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.