by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend The Chicago School at Los Angeles, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Counting every undergraduate at The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus, 75% finance part of their studies with federal loans, for a typical $12,295 annually.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $24,590 after two years and $49,180 by the fourth year. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 75% |
| Average federal loan per year | $12,295 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 244 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $3,000,052 |
The middle borrower at The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus owes $10,250 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $10,250 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $20,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
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 The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,166 |
| 25th percentile | $1,949 |
| 75th percentile | $7,593 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $24,136 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus.
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 Chicago School Los Angeles Campus.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 882 | $19,181 |
| Completed (graduates) | 595 | $21,265 |
| Did not complete | 287 | $16,000 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $252.86/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 796 | $18,836 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 86 | $21,937 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. Two-year cohort default-rate data for The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1143 |
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 | $9,500 |
| Middle income | $10,500 |
| High income | $11,250 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $9,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $7,500 |
| Independent students | $10,938 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus.
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.