by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Grace Christian University— 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.
Looking at the entering class at Grace, 64% of first-year students take on loan debt, for an average of $6,863 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,434, or about 98.8% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Across the full undergraduate body at Grace (freshmen included), 68% take out federal student loans, averaging $7,449 annually. That is 37.1% larger than the $5,434 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $14,898 across two years and $29,796 after four. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 68% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,449 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 483 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,598,031 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Grace carry a median federal debt of $9,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $24,375 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Grace.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,957 |
| 25th percentile | $4,012 |
| 75th percentile | $18,848 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,375 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Grace.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at Grace.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 87 | $11,033 |
| Completed (graduates) | 39 | $14,303 |
| Did not complete | 48 | $9,381 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $170.08/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Grace.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 77 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 10 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Grace.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Grace is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 54 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,268 |
| Middle income | $12,000 |
| High income | $14,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,756 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,068 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,250 |
| Independent students | $8,436 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Grace.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
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.