by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for Gwinnett Technical College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
Looking at the entering class at GTC, 23% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, with a typical loan of $4,412 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $4,412, which is 80.2% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Be aware: the undergraduate-wide averages below exclude private loans, while this freshman number includes them.
Among all degree-seeking undergrads at GTC, 27% borrow through federal student loan programs, at an average of $5,516 per year. It comes to 25.0% more than the $4,412 freshmen take on.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $11,032 by year two and around $22,064 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 | 27% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,516 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,960 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $10,810,948 |
The median student at GTC borrows $7,056 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $7,056 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $13,000 |
| Students who withdrew | $5,500 |
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 GTC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,750 |
| 25th percentile | $3,000 |
| 75th percentile | $12,764 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $21,469 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at GTC.
PLUS loans — taken out by parents or graduate students — add to the total cost of attendance financed by debt at GTC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 473 | $10,242 |
| Completed (graduates) | 89 | $10,100 |
| Did not complete | 384 | $10,267 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $120.1/mo.
The split below distinguishes Stafford borrowers from non-Stafford borrowers at GTC.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 278 | $11,096 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 195 | $10,000 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for GTC.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for GTC follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 6.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1042 |
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.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $8,250 |
| Middle income | $6,591 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,334 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,443 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,750 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for GTC.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
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.