by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Fortis Institute-Nashville— 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.
At Fortis Institute - Nashville, 78% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, for an average of $8,559 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $7,957. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at Fortis Institute - Nashville, 74% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $8,503 a year. This is 6.9% more than the freshman federal average of $7,957.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $17,006 in two years and roughly $34,012 by the fourth year. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 74% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,503 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 292 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,483,002 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Fortis Institute - Nashville carry a median federal debt of $9,500 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,346 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,959 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Fortis Institute - Nashville.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,167 |
| 25th percentile | $6,334 |
| 75th percentile | $13,992 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $23,501 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Fortis Institute - Nashville.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Fortis Institute - Nashville.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 274 | $6,625 |
| Completed (graduates) | 145 | $7,030 |
| Did not complete | 129 | $5,666 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $83.59/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at Fortis Institute - Nashville.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 245 | $6,700 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 29 | $5,166 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Fortis Institute - Nashville.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Fortis Institute - Nashville is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 10.0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 2637 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $10,727 |
| High income | $9,832 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $7,667 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Fortis Institute - Nashville.
The Difference Between 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
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.