by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Academy of Interactive Entertainment: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at AIE - Seattle, 47% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $13,960 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $6,172. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at AIE - Seattle, 54% take out federal student loans, averaging $7,462 a year. This works out to 20.9% higher than the first-year federal average of $6,172.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $14,924 across two years and $29,848 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 54% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,462 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 41 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $305,947 |
The median student at AIE - Seattle borrows $12,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at AIE - Seattle.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | $9,500 |
| 75th percentile | $14,556 |
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 AIE - Seattle.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 33 | $20,575 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at AIE - Seattle.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,000 |
| Middle income | $12,000 |
| High income | $12,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $20,000 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at AIE - Seattle.
The Difference Between 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?
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.