by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At RMCAD specifically, 68% of first-year students take on loan debt, at roughly $10,710 each, across private and federal loan sources.
The average federally funded loan is $7,636. This reaches or tops the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing cap for a 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.
For undergraduates overall at RMCAD, 60% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $8,873 each per year. This works out to 16.2% greater than the freshman federal average of $7,636.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $17,746 by year two and around $35,492 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 | 60% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,873 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,132 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $10,043,903 |
The median student at RMCAD borrows $9,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $9,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $31,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for RMCAD.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,234 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $29,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $41,956 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at RMCAD.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for RMCAD.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 420 | $15,854 |
| Completed (graduates) | 116 | $21,679 |
| Did not complete | 304 | $13,333 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $257.79/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at RMCAD.
Any-Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 410 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 10 | — |
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 379 | $15,900 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 41 | $11,772 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for RMCAD.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for RMCAD appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.4% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 174 |
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.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $10,110 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $11,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $8,400 |
| Independent students | $10,679 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at RMCAD.
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.
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.