by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Otis College of Art and Design: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
For incoming students at Otis College of Art and Design, 49% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $8,361 per student, private and federal loans combined.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,028, amounting to 91.4% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Looking at all undergraduates at Otis College of Art and Design, freshmen included, 45% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $6,927 in federal loans per year. This works out to 37.8% larger than the freshman federal average of $5,028.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $13,854 by year two and around $27,708 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 45% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,927 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 553 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,830,729 |
The median student at Otis College of Art and Design borrows $20,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $20,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at Otis College of Art and Design.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,116 |
| 75th percentile | $31,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $40,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Otis College of Art and Design.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Otis College of Art and Design.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 232 | $44,866 |
| Completed (graduates) | 146 | $48,857 |
| Did not complete | 86 | $38,445 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $580.96/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Otis College of Art and Design.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 222 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 10 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Otis College of Art and Design.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Otis College of Art and Design follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 283 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $21,500 |
| Middle income | $19,500 |
| High income | $19,399 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,014 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $25,000 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Otis College of Art and Design.
Subsidized vs. 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.