Georgia borrowers have $10.95 billion in defaulted student loans

ATLANTA — There are nearly 400,000 borrowers in the state of Georgia who are not paying their student loans, and that pile of debt is large.

Collectively, the U.S. Dept. of Education data shows Georgians in default on student loans owe a collective $10.95 billion.

Across Georgia’s various higher education institutions, including both public and private colleges and universities, the range of those in default or non-payment ranges from low at 4% to as high as 48%.

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The data available for institution-by-institution nonpayment rates was current as of May, according to USDOE.

Based on the information available, Georgia rounds out the top five states for loans in default, as of March.

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Federal data shows that while Georgia is the state with the fifth highest amount of default loans by dollar value, no state has more unpaid student debt than Texas.

Here’s the top 10 states, ranked by dollars owed:

Texas - $19.78 billion
California - $17.31 billion
Florida - $14.6 billion
New York - $12.9 billion
Georgia - $10.95 billion
Ohio - $10.2 billion
Pennsylvania - $8.85 billion
North Carolina - $7.8 billion
Illinois - $7.5 billion
Michigan - $7.4 billion

Further analysis of federal data by the Associated Press showed more than nine million Americans were in default on their student loans.

To be in default, borrowers have to miss payments for nine months in a row, according to the AP.

With roughly 9.5 million borrowers in default, 396,000 of whom are in Georgia, the AP reported that one of every five borrowers are in default right now.

Another nearly 900,000 borrowers are close to defaulting their loans as well, data from USDOE showed.

Institutionally, here’s where the federal government says Georgia borrowers went to school, and how many, proportionally, are currently not paying:

School Name	School Type	State	Total Borrowers Evaluated	Nonpayment Rate
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College	PUBLIC	GA	3700	21%
Agnes Scott College	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	1500	13%
Albany State University	PUBLIC	GA	11100	33%
Andrew College	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	900	31%
Point University	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	2000	28%
Berry College	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	2100	8%
Thomas University	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	2600	21%
Brenau University	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	5400	14%
Brewton Parker College	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	1400	38%
College of Coastal Georgia	PUBLIC	GA	3400	24%
Clark Atlanta University	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	12000	26%
Columbia Theological Seminary	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	100	15%
Columbus State University	PUBLIC	GA	9200	23%
Emmanuel University	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	1500	18%
Emory University	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	11100	4%
Fort Valley State University	PUBLIC	GA	5700	34%
Interdenominational Theological Center	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	300	21%
Georgia Institute of Technology	PUBLIC	GA	9700	4%
Georgia Military College	PUBLIC	GA	8600	29%
Georgia Southern University	PUBLIC	GA	29700	17%
Georgia Southwestern State University	PUBLIC	GA	4100	20%
Georgia State University	PUBLIC	GA	51200	20%
Gordon State College	PUBLIC	GA	4500	34%
Kennesaw State University	PUBLIC	GA	36100	15%
LaGrange College	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	1600	20%
Augusta University	PUBLIC	GA	10200	10%
Mercer University	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	13100	8%
Middle Georgia State University	PUBLIC	GA	9900	25%
Morehouse College	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	5200	24%
Morris Brown College	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	200	48%
University of North Georgia	PUBLIC	GA	11900	14%
Oglethorpe University	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	1800	13%
Paine College	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	900	47%
Piedmont University	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	3900	13%
Reinhardt University	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	2200	21%
Savannah State University	PUBLIC	GA	7100	36%
Shorter University	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	2600	22%
South Georgia State College	PUBLIC	GA	2700	35%
Spelman College	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	4400	15%
Toccoa Falls College	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	1400	21%
Truett McConnell University	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	1100	17%
University of Georgia	PUBLIC	GA	25200	6%
Valdosta State University	PUBLIC	GA	16500	21%
Wesleyan College	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	900	19%
University of West Georgia	PUBLIC	GA	16600	18%
Georgia College & State University	PUBLIC	GA	6600	10%
Young Harris College	PRIVATE, NONPROFIT	GA	1400	20%