by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Columbus College of Art & Design, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at CCAD, 70% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $8,791 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,416, or about 98.5% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at CCAD, 70% take out federal student loans, borrowing on average $6,719 a year. That amounts to 24.1% more than the freshman federal average of $5,416.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,438 across two years and $26,876 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 | 70% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,719 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 624 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $4,192,639 |
The middle borrower at CCAD owes $20,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $20,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.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 CCAD.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $9,745 |
| 75th percentile | $31,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $45,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at CCAD.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at CCAD.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 315 | $32,938 |
| Completed (graduates) | 168 | $55,612 |
| Did not complete | 147 | $23,584 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $661.29/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at CCAD.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 305 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 302 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 13 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at CCAD.
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 CCAD follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 371 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $21,414 |
| Middle income | $20,500 |
| High income | $19,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $20,475 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $20,490 |
| Independent students | $25,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at CCAD.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
Important to Remember
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.