by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at PAFA, 56% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $15,629 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,716. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Across the full undergraduate body at PAFA (freshmen included), 65% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $6,738 each per year. That is 17.9% more than the $5,716 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $13,476 after two years and $26,952 after four. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 65% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,738 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 64 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $431,251 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at PAFA carry a median federal debt of $19,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,309 |
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at PAFA.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,771 |
| 25th percentile | $9,250 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at PAFA.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for PAFA.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 25 | $44,400 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. PAFA.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for PAFA follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 4.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 96 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for PAFA.
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
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.