by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Scripps College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Scripps, 21% of first-year students take on loan debt, averaging $5,225 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,133, or about 75.1% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Looking at all undergraduates at Scripps, freshmen included, 17% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $4,771 per year. That is 15.4% larger than the $4,133 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $9,542 across two years and $19,084 across a four-year program. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 17% |
| Average federal loan per year | $4,771 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 186 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $887,444 |
The middle borrower at Scripps owes $11,853 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $11,853 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $13,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,000 |
The figure for students who withdrew is worth watching: debt without a completed credential is the hardest to repay.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Scripps.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $15,600 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $23,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Scripps.
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 Scripps.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 48 | $57,648 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Scripps.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Scripps follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 96 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,901 |
| Middle income | $12,250 |
| High income | $12,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $11,792 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Scripps.
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
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.