by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for United States Sports University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
At The Academy, 71% of first-year students take on loan debt, with a typical loan of $8,385 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $4,352, equal to roughly 79.1% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at The Academy, 53% finance part of their studies with federal loans, with a mean of $8,313 each per year. It comes to 91.0% higher than the first-year federal average of $4,352.
Borrowing at that rate every year works out to about $16,626 in two years and roughly $33,252 over a four-year span. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 53% |
| Average federal loan per year | $8,313 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 67 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $556,950 |
The middle borrower at The Academy owes $10,976 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $10,976 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,596 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for The Academy.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,436 |
| 25th percentile | $5,250 |
| 75th percentile | $30,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $41,015 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at The Academy.
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 Academy.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 38 | $16,893 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. The Academy.
A loan default — failing to keep up with federal student-loan payments — is one of the worst financial outcomes a borrower can face. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for The Academy is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 311 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $10,819 |
Subsidized vs. 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?
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.