by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Peirce College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Peirce, 67% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $5,250 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,500, representing 100.0% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Peirce, 62% take out federal student loans, for a typical $10,283 annually. This is 87.0% larger than the freshman federal average of $5,500.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $20,566 over two years and about $41,132 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 62% |
| Average federal loan per year | $10,283 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 491 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,048,955 |
The middle borrower at Peirce owes $21,875 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $21,875 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $31,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $14,459 |
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 Peirce.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $6,375 |
| 75th percentile | $33,625 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $48,750 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Peirce.
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 Peirce.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 166 | $10,163 |
| Completed (graduates) | 66 | $9,970 |
| Did not complete | 100 | $10,543 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $118.55/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at Peirce.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 133 | $9,945 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 33 | $14,075 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. Peirce.
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 Peirce is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 11.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 911 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $20,911 |
| Middle income | $23,024 |
| High income | $21,995 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $21,875 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,875 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $21,631 |
| Independent students | $21,999 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Peirce.
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.
Did You Know?
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.