by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Georgia Highlands College— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
Among first-year students at GHC, 12% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, averaging $5,014 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
On the federal side, the average loan is $5,014, equal to roughly 91.2% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Counting every undergraduate at GHC, 19% take out federal student loans, borrowing on average $6,237 annually. It comes to 24.4% more than the freshman federal average of $5,014.
Carrying that yearly figure forward comes to roughly $12,474 after two years and $24,948 over a four-year span. This projection keeps yearly federal borrowing flat and excludes private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 19% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,237 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 844 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,264,389 |
The median student at GHC borrows $6,750 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $12,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for 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 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at GHC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at GHC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 313 | $11,252 |
| Completed (graduates) | 58 | $10,125 |
| Did not complete | 255 | $11,332 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $120.4/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at GHC.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 143 | $11,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 170 | $11,910 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for GHC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for GHC is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 7.9% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 986 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,469 |
| Middle income | $7,000 |
| High income | $5,995 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| 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 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for GHC.
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.
Important to Remember
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.