by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Art Center College of Design: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Art Center College of Design, 32% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, at roughly $6,835 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federally funded loan is $5,133, which is 93.3% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
For undergraduates overall at Art Center College of Design, 33% borrow through federal student loan programs, borrowing on average $6,797 annually. This works out to 32.4% above the first-year federal average of $5,133.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,594 in two years and roughly $27,188 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 33% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,797 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 685 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,655,823 |
The middle borrower at Art Center College of Design owes $26,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $26,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $31,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $13,125 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Art Center College of Design.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $18,000 |
| 75th percentile | $41,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $51,638 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Art Center College of Design.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Art Center College of Design.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 259 | $55,168 |
| Completed (graduates) | 164 | $66,614 |
| Did not complete | 95 | $43,610 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $792.11/mo.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Art Center College of Design.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Art Center College of Design appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 426 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $28,500 |
| Middle income | $26,800 |
| High income | $23,288 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $27,906 |
| Continuing-generation students | $25,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $25,000 |
| Independent students | $41,843 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Art Center College of Design.
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?
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.