by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for The Ailey School— 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.
Among first-year students at The Ailey School, 24% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $5,147 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The average federal loan is $5,147, amounting to 93.6% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
For undergraduates overall at The Ailey School, 36% borrow through federal student loan programs, borrowing on average $5,923 each per year. That is 15.1% more than the $5,147 borrowed by freshmen.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,846 across two years and $23,692 across a four-year program. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 36% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,923 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 32 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $189,534 |
The median student at The Ailey School borrows $13,399 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $13,399 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $17,500 |
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for The Ailey School.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $16,000 |
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 The Ailey School.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 27 | $22,000 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at The Ailey School.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for The Ailey School is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 8.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 20 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
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.
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.