by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Plaza College: 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 Plaza College, 93% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $7,091 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
Federal loans alone average $7,091. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Looking at all undergraduates at Plaza College, freshmen included, 82% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $8,861 a year. It comes to 25.0% greater than the $7,091 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $17,722 after two years and $35,444 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 82% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,861 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 677 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,998,688 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Plaza College carry a median federal debt of $13,348 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,348 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,751 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,723 |
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 Plaza College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,954 |
| 25th percentile | $4,385 |
| 75th percentile | $15,818 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $23,298 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Plaza College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Plaza College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 86 | $11,140 |
| Completed (graduates) | 52 | $17,575 |
| Did not complete | 34 | $4,930 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $208.99/mo.
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Plaza College.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Plaza College appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 664 |
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 | $12,245 |
| Middle income | $15,578 |
| High income | $18,978 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,220 |
| Continuing-generation students | $23,907 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,580 |
| Independent students | $14,140 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Plaza College.
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.
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.