by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Gene Juarez Academy-Federal Way— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Gene Juarez Academy specifically, 80% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $7,371 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $7,371. That sits at or beyond the $5,500 first-year federal limit for a typical dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Counting every undergraduate at Gene Juarez Academy, 52% borrow through federal student loan programs, averaging $6,601 per year. This works out to 10.4% smaller than the $7,371 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,202 over two years and about $26,404 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 52% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,601 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 108 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $712,916 |
The median student at Gene Juarez Academy borrows $7,780 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,780 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,555 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Gene Juarez Academy.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $4,795 |
| 75th percentile | $11,873 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $15,833 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Gene Juarez Academy.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Gene Juarez Academy.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 29 | $8,785 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Gene Juarez Academy.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Gene Juarez Academy appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 15.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 486 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $6,478 |
| Middle income | $7,507 |
| High income | $9,915 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,780 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,514 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $7,415 |
| Independent students | $9,459 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Gene Juarez Academy.
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.