by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Protege Academy: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Protege Academy, 82% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $6,833 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $6,833. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at Protege Academy, freshmen included, 57% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, with a mean of $8,478 in federal loans per year. This works out to 24.1% more than the $6,833 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $16,956 after two years and $33,912 by the fourth year. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 57% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,478 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 32 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $271,290 |
The median student at Protege Academy borrows $9,833 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,833 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,833 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Protege Academy.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,091 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $14,481 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $16,442 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Protege Academy.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Protege Academy.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 26 | $7,830 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Protege Academy.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Protege Academy follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,473 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,833 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,833 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $9,833 |
| Independent students | $8,753 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Protege Academy.
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
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.