Georgia Student Loan Debt and Financial Aid Statistics
Federal student loan debt statistics in Georgia
- Georgia residents owe a total of $68.6 billion in student loan debts
- This is the 5th largest total debt of all 50 states plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico
- And the average debt per borrower of $41,639 is the 3rd largest average student debt per borrower in the country – $3,852 above the national average
- A total of 1.647 million people in Georgia hold student debt making Georgia the state with the 7th highest number of borrowers in the country.
- This is 15.25% of the population of Georgia – making Georgia the state with the 2nd most student loan borrowers per capita.
- Of these borrowers, 49.70% are under the age of 35 – the 42nd highest in the country.
How much student loan debt does the average Georgia resident have?
- The average student loan debt for borrowers who are Georgia residents is $41,639
- This makes Georgia the state with the 3rd largest average student loan debt
- The average student debt in Georgia is significantly higher than the national average of $37,787
- Within this average, the amount owed by Georgia residents varies greatly:
- 14.30% of borrowers owe less than $5k
- 20.90% of borrowers owe between $20k and $40k
- 2.70% of borrowers owe more than $200k
How much do Georgia residents borrow each year?
- 38.30% of Georgia undergraduate students take out federal student loans – this is the 20th highest in the country
- For those at 2-year colleges, 16.90% of students chose to take student loans – that’s 33rd in the country
- They were approved to get $5,962 per year on average
- This is the 16th most per student at 2-year colleges of any state
- More students at 4-year schools take out student loans – 45.70% receive student loans
- This is 26th most out of the 50 states and DC.
- These students are awarded $6,575 per year on average – ranking 41st in the country.
State-level financial aid for students in Georgia
- Georgia is the state that spends the 5th most state funds on financial aid for students
- In total, Georgia spends $888.4 million on state-level financial aid programs per year
- This works out at around 0.45% of the gross state product (GSP)
- While Georgia has the nation’s 5th largest budget for student financial aid, it only ranks 20th as a percentage of GSP
- This works out at around $2,160 per undergraduate student in the state – the 4th most of any state in the country
- None of this money is distributed to students in the form of grants where the money does not need to be repaid.
- All $888.4 million is distributed between other programs – some of which may be due to be repaid.