by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Rhode Island School of Design, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At RISD specifically, 30% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $8,047 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $5,139, equal to roughly 93.4% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent student. 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 RISD, freshmen included, 29% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $6,389 a year. That amounts to 24.3% above the $5,139 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $12,778 after two years and $25,556 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 29% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,389 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 598 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,820,795 |
The median student at RISD borrows $23,250 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $23,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $11,992 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at RISD.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,750 |
| 25th percentile | $14,000 |
| 75th percentile | $30,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,000 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at RISD.
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 RISD.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 188 | $56,072 |
| Completed (graduates) | 139 | $57,691 |
| Did not complete | 49 | $50,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $686.01/mo.
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. RISD.
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 RISD is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.6% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 416 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $26,000 |
| Middle income | $24,126 |
| High income | $21,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $27,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $23,250 |
| Independent students | $35,500 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at RISD.
Subsidized vs. 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
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.