by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Georgia College & State University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Georgia College, 38% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $7,337 per borrower, covering both private and federal loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,300, which is 96.4% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Keep in mind the all-undergraduate averages further down count federal loans only, unlike this private-plus-federal freshman figure.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at Georgia College, 35% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, at an average of $5,957 per year. It comes to 12.4% higher than the $5,300 typical freshmen borrow.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $11,914 across two years and $23,828 over four years. These figures assume identical federal borrowing each year and omit private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 35% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,957 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,947 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $11,597,397 |
The middle borrower at Georgia College owes $16,018 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,018 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $22,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
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 Georgia College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $30,183 |
The spread between the lowest- and highest-debt deciles summarizes how variable outcomes are at Georgia College.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at Georgia College.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 808 | $15,000 |
| Completed (graduates) | 495 | $15,753 |
| Did not complete | 313 | $13,165 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $187.32/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Georgia College.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 788 | $15,000 |
| No Stafford loan | 20 | $15,300 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 725 | $15,466 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 83 | $12,928 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Georgia College.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Georgia College is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 2.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1251 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,231 |
| Middle income | $17,250 |
| High income | $15,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,533 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $16,217 |
| Independent students | $14,250 |
The Department of Education computes gap indicators that show how borrowing differs between student groups at Georgia College.
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.
Did You Know?
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.