by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Massachusetts College of Art and Design, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Massachusetts College of Art and Design, 59% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $10,406 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,292, or about 96.2% 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 Massachusetts College of Art and Design, 53% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $6,218 in federal loans per year. This is 17.5% greater than the $5,292 freshmen take on.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,436 across two years and $24,872 after four. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 53% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,218 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 960 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,969,276 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Massachusetts College of Art and Design carry a median federal debt of $19,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,755 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $11,018 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,772 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 219 | $28,900 |
| Completed (graduates) | 123 | $37,000 |
| Did not complete | 96 | $20,784 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $439.97/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 208 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 11 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Massachusetts College of Art and Design appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 387 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,500 |
| Middle income | $21,500 |
| High income | $18,449 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,051 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $19,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
The Difference Between Subsidized and 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
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.