by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend School of Visual Arts— 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.
At SVA specifically, 28% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, at roughly $14,009 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,377, or about 97.8% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Counting every undergraduate at SVA, 26% finance part of their studies with federal loans, at an average of $6,946 a year. It comes to 29.2% above the freshman federal average of $5,377.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $13,892 in two years and roughly $27,784 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 26% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,946 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 884 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,139,855 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at SVA carry a median federal debt of $22,000 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $22,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $27,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,500 |
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 SVA.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,000 |
| 75th percentile | $28,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,500 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at SVA.
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 SVA.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 428 | $62,546 |
| Completed (graduates) | 293 | $78,915 |
| Did not complete | 135 | $48,616 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $938.38/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at SVA.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 415 | — |
| No Stafford loan | 13 | — |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 405 | $65,810 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 23 | $22,127 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at SVA.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. Two-year cohort default-rate data for SVA is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 828 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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 | $23,594 |
| Middle income | $25,000 |
| High income | $20,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $23,245 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $21,500 |
| Independent students | $30,250 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for SVA.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Did You Know?
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.