by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Columbia College Chicago: 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.
At Columbia, 53% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $7,506 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $5,424, representing 98.6% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at Columbia (freshmen included), 56% take out federal student loans, for a typical $6,616 each per year. That is 22.0% greater than the first-year federal average of $5,424.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,232 across two years and $26,464 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 | 56% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,616 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 3,522 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $23,300,854 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Columbia carry a median federal debt of $16,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,235 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 Columbia.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $9,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $37,215 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Columbia.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Columbia.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1638 | $40,049 |
| Completed (graduates) | 929 | $55,700 |
| Did not complete | 709 | $27,584 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $662.33/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Columbia.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1597 | $40,714 |
| No Stafford loan | 41 | $26,021 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1570 | $41,178 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 68 | $25,740 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Columbia.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Columbia is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 3488 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,000 |
| Middle income | $15,548 |
| High income | $15,750 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,750 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,250 |
| Independent students | $24,022 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Columbia.
The Difference Between 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.
Did You Know?
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.