by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for City Colleges of Chicago-Richard J Daley 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 Richard J Daley College, 0% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $3,958 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $3,958, which is 72.0% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
For undergraduates overall at Richard J Daley College, 1% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, averaging $3,839 each per year. It comes to 3.0% lower than the $3,958 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $7,678 after two years and $15,356 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 1% |
| Average federal loan per year | $3,839 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 14 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $53,745 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Richard J Daley College carry a median federal debt of $3,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $3,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $4,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $3,500 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Richard J Daley College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $2,000 |
| 75th percentile | $5,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $8,500 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Richard J Daley College.
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 Richard J Daley College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 260 | $12,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 49 | $15,000 |
| Did not complete | 211 | $11,830 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $178.37/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Richard J Daley College.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 16 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 244 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Richard J Daley 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 official Department of Education two-year default rate for Richard J Daley College follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 128 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $3,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $3,478 |
| Independent students | $4,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Richard J Daley College.
The Difference Between 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?
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.