by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Refrigeration School Inc— 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.
Looking at the entering class at RSI, 79% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, with a typical loan of $8,386 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $7,655. This reaches or tops the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap for a typical dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at RSI (freshmen included), 69% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $6,652 in federal loans per year. That amounts to 13.1% smaller than the freshman federal average of $7,655.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $13,304 over two years and about $26,608 after four. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 69% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,652 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,521 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $10,117,444 |
The median student at RSI borrows $7,917 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,917 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $8,233 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,750 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at RSI.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,528 |
| 75th percentile | $13,599 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $15,311 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at RSI.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for RSI.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 173 | $9,492 |
| Completed (graduates) | 144 | $10,259 |
| Did not complete | 29 | $6,030 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $121.99/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at RSI.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 163 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 10 | — |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. RSI.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for RSI follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 474 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,917 |
| Middle income | $7,917 |
| High income | $7,072 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,917 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,917 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $6,122 |
| Independent students | $8,233 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at RSI.
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.
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.