by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Cleary University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Cleary College, 56% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $6,047 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $4,830, representing 87.8% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. 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 Cleary College, freshmen included, 56% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $6,155 a year. That amounts to 27.4% greater than the $4,830 typical freshmen borrow.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,310 by year two and around $24,620 by the fourth year. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 56% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,155 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 434 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,671,186 |
The median student at Cleary College borrows $12,469 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $12,469 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,991 |
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 Cleary College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,167 |
| 25th percentile | $6,250 |
| 75th percentile | $26,832 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $40,875 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Cleary College.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Cleary College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 145 | $13,617 |
| Completed (graduates) | 90 | $13,687 |
| Did not complete | 55 | $13,200 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $162.75/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Cleary College.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 130 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 15 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Cleary 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 Cleary College appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 322 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,355 |
| Middle income | $13,128 |
| High income | $12,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,128 |
| Continuing-generation students | $11,550 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,000 |
| Independent students | $14,533 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Cleary 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?
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.