by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice: 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 John Jay specifically, 6% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $7,411 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The average federal loan is $4,755, which is 86.5% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at John Jay, 8% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $6,332 annually. That amounts to 33.2% above the $4,755 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,664 after two years and $25,328 after four. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 8% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,332 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 950 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,015,059 |
The median student at John Jay borrows $9,250 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $11,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,453 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for John Jay.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,750 |
| 75th percentile | $15,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $24,484 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at John Jay.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at John Jay.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 685 | $16,716 |
| Completed (graduates) | 346 | $16,130 |
| Did not complete | 339 | $17,591 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $191.8/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at John Jay.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 662 | $17,094 |
| No Stafford loan | 23 | $13,148 |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 366 | $20,250 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 319 | $14,500 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. John Jay.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for John Jay is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1496 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,500 |
| Middle income | $8,993 |
| High income | $11,875 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,041 |
| Continuing-generation students | $10,318 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $8,466 |
| Independent students | $10,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for John Jay.
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.
Worth Knowing
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.