by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend American International College: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at AIC, 77% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, borrowing on average $7,147 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $5,156, or about 93.7% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at AIC (freshmen included), 80% borrow through federal student loan programs, with a mean of $6,906 annually. That amounts to 33.9% higher than the freshman federal average of $5,156.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,812 after two years and $27,624 across a four-year program. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 80% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,906 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 874 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,035,924 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at AIC carry a median federal debt of $21,063 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $21,063 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for AIC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $6,800 |
| 75th percentile | $29,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $39,750 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at AIC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at AIC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 592 | $20,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 418 | $21,595 |
| Did not complete | 174 | $16,753 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $256.79/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at AIC.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 524 | $19,604 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 68 | $20,627 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at AIC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for AIC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1166 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,353 |
| Middle income | $21,125 |
| High income | $21,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,399 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $25,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for AIC.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.