by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Georgia Career Institute: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
At Georgia Career Institute, 71% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, for an average of $5,542 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,542. This meets or exceeds the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical dependent freshman. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Looking at all undergraduates at Georgia Career Institute, freshmen included, 51% borrow through federal student loan programs, for a typical $5,257 a year. That is 5.1% below the freshman federal average of $5,542.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $10,514 by year two and around $21,028 across a four-year program. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 51% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,257 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 448 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $2,354,972 |
The median student at Georgia Career Institute borrows $6,544 of cumulative federal debt.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,544 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $7,735 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,750 |
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 Georgia Career Institute.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,812 |
| 25th percentile | $4,564 |
| 75th percentile | $9,566 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $11,600 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Georgia Career Institute.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Georgia Career Institute.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 224 | $7,385 |
| Completed (graduates) | 181 | $7,616 |
| Did not complete | 43 | $4,337 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $90.56/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Georgia Career Institute.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 210 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 14 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Georgia Career Institute.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Georgia Career Institute follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 17.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 670 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,544 |
| Middle income | $6,881 |
| High income | $6,222 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,544 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,398 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $6,544 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Georgia Career Institute.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
Worth Knowing
Declaring bankruptcy does not erase federal student loan debt. If you stop paying, the federal government can garnish a portion of your wages until the loans are repaid.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.