by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Iowa School of Beauty-Des Moines, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at ISB, 64% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, at roughly $5,277 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $5,277, representing 95.9% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Across the full undergraduate body at ISB (freshmen included), 50% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $7,192 each per year. It comes to 36.3% larger than the $5,277 freshmen take on.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $14,384 across two years and $28,768 over four years. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 50% |
| Average federal loan per year | $7,192 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 73 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $525,047 |
The middle borrower at ISB owes $6,333 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,333 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $6,333 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for ISB.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,397 |
| 25th percentile | $4,184 |
| 75th percentile | $11,984 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $18,491 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at ISB.
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at ISB.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for ISB appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 129 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
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 | $5,855 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,951 |
| Independent students | $6,333 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at ISB.
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
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.