by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for The Juilliard School— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at Juilliard, 39% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, borrowing on average $9,742 each, across private and federal loan sources.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,542. That is at or past the $5,500 federal first-year limit for the typical dependent freshman. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
For undergraduates overall at Juilliard, 28% take out federal student loans, averaging $6,314 in federal loans per year. That amounts to 13.9% more than the $5,542 borrowed by freshmen.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $12,628 in two years and roughly $25,256 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 28% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,314 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 131 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $827,187 |
The middle borrower at Juilliard owes $25,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $25,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $25,500 |
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Juilliard.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $6,500 |
| 25th percentile | $13,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $39,000 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at Juilliard.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Juilliard.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 70 | $38,466 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Juilliard.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. Two-year cohort default-rate data for Juilliard follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.5% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 130 |
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 | $22,523 |
| Middle income | $26,000 |
| High income | $25,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $25,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $25,000 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for Juilliard.
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.