by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Central Georgia Technical College: 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.
For incoming students at CGTC, 22% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, for an average of $4,503 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $4,503, representing 81.9% of the $5,500 cap on first-year federal borrowing for the typical 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 CGTC, 26% rely on federal student loans toward their education, with a mean of $5,684 each per year. This works out to 26.2% greater than the $4,503 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $11,368 by year two and around $22,736 over a four-year span. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 26% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,684 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,452 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $8,252,853 |
The median student at CGTC borrows $5,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $5,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $9,608 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,697 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at CGTC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,103 |
| 25th percentile | $1,948 |
| 75th percentile | $7,994 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $14,362 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at CGTC.
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 CGTC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 461 | $8,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 88 | $7,626 |
| Did not complete | 373 | $8,500 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $90.68/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at CGTC.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 202 | $7,939 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 259 | $8,045 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for CGTC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for CGTC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 0% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,050 |
| Middle income | $5,682 |
| High income | $5,703 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,498 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,581 |
| Independent students | $6,159 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for CGTC.
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.
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.