by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Pitzer College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At Pitzer specifically, 17% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, borrowing on average $4,057 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $3,337, equal to roughly 60.7% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at Pitzer (freshmen included), 20% take out federal student loans, with a mean of $4,753 per year. It comes to 42.4% above the first-year federal average of $3,337.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $9,506 by year two and around $19,012 over four years. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 20% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,753 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 241 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $1,145,400 |
The middle borrower at Pitzer owes $13,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $16,750 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,000 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Pitzer.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $18,300 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $25,754 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Pitzer.
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 Pitzer.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 47 | $51,525 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Pitzer.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Pitzer follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 131 |
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 | $12,750 |
| Middle income | $12,911 |
| High income | $14,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Pitzer.
The Difference Between 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.
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.