by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for City Colleges of Chicago-Olive-Harvey College— 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.
Among first-year students at Olive-Harvey College, 3% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $4,567 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,567, or about 83.0% 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.
Looking at all undergraduates at Olive-Harvey College, freshmen included, 6% rely on federal student loans toward their education, at an average of $6,030 annually. This works out to 32.0% above the $4,567 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,060 over two years and about $24,120 across a four-year program. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 6% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,030 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 85 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $512,573 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Olive-Harvey College carry a median federal debt of $5,250 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $7,646 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Olive-Harvey College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,597 |
| 25th percentile | $2,353 |
| 75th percentile | $8,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $14,357 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Olive-Harvey College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Olive-Harvey College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 172 | $9,098 |
| Completed (graduates) | 34 | $8,265 |
| Did not complete | 138 | $9,255 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $98.28/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Olive-Harvey College.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 25 | $9,200 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 147 | $8,997 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Olive-Harvey College.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Olive-Harvey College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 12 |
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 | $5,502 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,276 |
| Continuing-generation students | $4,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $3,500 |
| Independent students | $6,783 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Olive-Harvey College.
Subsidized vs. 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.