by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Georgia Southwestern State University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at GSW, 51% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, at roughly $5,552 per student, private and federal loans combined.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,286, or about 96.1% of the $5,500 first-year federal borrowing limit for a typical dependent freshman. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Counting every undergraduate at GSW, 45% use federal student loans to help pay for their education, for a typical $6,343 annually. That amounts to 20.0% more than the freshman federal average of $5,286.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,686 across two years and $25,372 over a four-year span. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 45% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,343 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,027 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $6,514,154 |
The median student at GSW borrows $11,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $11,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $18,851 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for GSW.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $23,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,093 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at GSW.
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 GSW.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 356 | $8,409 |
| Completed (graduates) | 157 | $9,000 |
| Did not complete | 199 | $8,000 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $107.02/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at GSW.
Borrowers With a Stafford Loan This Year
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 281 | $8,000 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 75 | $9,864 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at GSW.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for GSW follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 830 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $11,115 |
| Middle income | $11,750 |
| High income | $10,090 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $11,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $11,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,000 |
| Independent students | $11,227 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at GSW.
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.
Important to Remember
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.