by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of students will not be asked to pay the advertised price of a school. Instead, they will be provided a financial aid package that will include a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study. The sum total of attendance at Georgia Highlands College can sound overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students get some type of financial aid.
What financial aid options can GHC offer you, and what will you qualify for? Keep reading for more information. Keep reading to find out how much school funding will be available to you.
The amount of financial aid and scholarships you are eligible for will vary depending on your family’s income. Use the information below to understand how much financial assistance you may get from Georgia Highlands College.
Aid such as grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships helps colleges decrease the real cost of attendance for most students. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
For incoming first-year students at Georgia Highlands College, 83% of new full-time first-years were awarded at least some aid approximately 498 new students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 79% | $5,993 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 7% | $3,947 |
| Federal Pell grants | 55% | $6,068 |
| State/local grants | 40% | $2,751 |
| Federal student loans | 12% | $5,014 |
Unlike loans, grants and scholarships are gift aid that does not need to be paid back, making them the most desirable form of assistance. Here, approximately 53% of undergraduates were awarded an average grant or scholarship of $5,546 (among about 2648 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 53% | $5,546 |
| Federal Pell grants | 41% | $5,587 |
| Federal student loans | 17% | $6,237 |
For students living on campus and receiving title-IV aid, grants averaged $6,461.
How much a family pays depends heavily on income, because most aid is awarded on the basis of financial need.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $5,116 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $6,829 |
| Over $75,000 | $11,233 |
Each amount is the average cost remaining once grant aid is subtracted, by income band.
Net price is the average annual cost after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the published cost of attendance — the figure closest to what a typical aid-receiving student actually pays.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $6,928 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $6,588 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see GHC’s net price calculator: sites.highlands.edu/office-of-finance-and-administration/business-office/bursars-office-student-accounts/net-price-calculator/.
The median federal debt load at GHC comes to $6,750 of federal borrowing.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $6,750 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $12,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $127.22/mo |
That monthly figure reflects the median graduate debt repaid on a standard 10-year federal schedule.
Looking only at the median can be misleading because it hides the spread. The four reference points below map the debt distribution at GHC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $2,750 |
| 75th percentile | $9,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $15,149 |
How much a student borrows depends heavily on family income, first-gen status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,469 |
| Middle income | $7,000 |
| High income | $5,995 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
These indicators are derived from the underlying debt data and summarize the overall picture at GHC.
Stafford loans are the federal government’s primary direct undergraduate lending program. These figures summarize annual Stafford program activity at GHC:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 13737 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $126,604,002 |
GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the two federal aid programs targeted at military-affiliated students.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 157 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $201,911 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $1,286 |
DoD program volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 10 |
| Total DoD amount | $6,607 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $661 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.