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Report: Georgia students leave college about $27K in debt

Students are leaving college with tens of thousands of dollars in debt and looking for work to pay off their loans.
Students are leaving college with tens of thousands of dollars in debt and looking for work to pay off their loans.
By
Aug 10, 2017

Georgians leave college, on average, with about $27,325 in debt, according to a report released Thursday.

Nearly 60 percent of Georgia students have some student debt, the Lend EDU report found.

Georgia ranked 28th nationally in the average amount of debt. Pennsylvania was first, at more than $35,000 per student while Utah had the lowest debt, at about $19,000 per student. The national average of debt in 2016, $27,975, was slightly lower than the prior average of $28,400.

Clark Atlanta University students had the highest average debt, at slightly more than $40,000. More than 90 percent of its students graduated with some debt. The university has been working on several efforts to help students graduate with less debt, such as encouraging students to take more credit hours to graduate earlier.

In other Education news:

$5 Billion In Student Loan Debt Could Be Forgiven. Is Your Debt Part Of It?

About the Author

Eric Stirgus joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2001. He is the newsroom's education editor. Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Eric is active in the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists and the Education Writers Association and enjoys mentoring aspiring journalists.

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