by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Lionel University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at ISSA, 64% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, at roughly $4,806 per student, private and federal loans combined.
Federal loans alone average $4,806, which is 87.4% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at ISSA, 66% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $8,188 each per year. This works out to 70.4% above the $4,806 borrowed by freshmen.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $16,376 by year two and around $32,752 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 66% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,188 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 300 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,456,421 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at ISSA carry a median federal debt of $6,334 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,334 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,668 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,000 |
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 ISSA.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | $2,462 |
| 75th percentile | $9,500 |
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at ISSA.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 55 | $13,000 |
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at ISSA.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 15 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 40 | — |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for ISSA.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,334 |
| Middle income | $6,334 |
| High income | $4,940 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,334 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,111 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $1,834 |
| Independent students | $6,334 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at ISSA.
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.