by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for DigiPen Institute of Technology— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at Digipen, 53% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $9,425 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,267, representing 95.8% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at Digipen (freshmen included), 43% take out federal student loans, for a typical $7,089 each per year. That is 34.6% greater than the first-year federal average of $5,267.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $14,178 in two years and roughly $28,356 across a four-year program. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 43% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,089 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 443 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,140,263 |
The median student at Digipen borrows $21,163 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $21,163 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Digipen.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $9,500 |
| 75th percentile | $31,498 |
| 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 Digipen.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Digipen.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 150 | $58,327 |
| Completed (graduates) | 101 | $83,485 |
| Did not complete | 49 | $31,498 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $992.73/mo.
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Digipen.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Digipen follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 219 |
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.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $25,875 |
| Middle income | $22,750 |
| High income | $19,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $23,615 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $21,292 |
| Independent students | $20,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Digipen.
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.
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.