by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Palm Beach Atlantic 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.
For incoming students at Palm Beach Atlantic, 56% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, with a typical loan of $8,751 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $4,806, which is 87.4% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Palm Beach Atlantic, 48% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $6,078 in federal loans per year. That amounts to 26.5% higher than the $4,806 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,156 across two years and $24,312 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 | 48% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,078 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,158 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,038,836 |
The middle borrower at Palm Beach Atlantic owes $13,816 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,816 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
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 Palm Beach Atlantic.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Palm Beach Atlantic.
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 Palm Beach Atlantic.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 378 | $20,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 146 | $23,324 |
| Did not complete | 232 | $17,867 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $277.35/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Palm Beach Atlantic.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 368 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 355 | $20,008 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 23 | $15,386 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Palm Beach Atlantic.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Palm Beach Atlantic is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1003 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,625 |
| Middle income | $13,500 |
| High income | $14,520 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,750 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,000 |
| Independent students | $15,556 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Palm Beach Atlantic.
The Difference Between 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.
Important to Remember
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.