by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Clary Sage 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.
Looking at the entering class at Clary Sage College, 65% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $4,974 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $4,785, representing 87.0% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. 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 Clary Sage College, freshmen included, 64% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, borrowing on average $5,289 per year. This works out to 10.5% more than the $4,785 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $10,578 over two years and about $21,156 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 64% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,289 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 419 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,216,200 |
The middle borrower at Clary Sage College owes $7,934 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,934 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $8,898 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,370 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Clary Sage College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,666 |
| 25th percentile | $6,089 |
| 75th percentile | $13,389 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $17,347 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Clary Sage College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Clary Sage College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 137 | $7,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 113 | $7,545 |
| Did not complete | 24 | $5,795 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $89.72/mo.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Clary Sage 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 Clary Sage College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1092 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,830 |
| Middle income | $8,558 |
| High income | $7,990 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,904 |
| Continuing-generation students | $8,188 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $7,125 |
| Independent students | $8,204 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Clary Sage College.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
Worth Knowing
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.