Georgia student loan borrowers named second-most indebted in U.S.

In the aftermath of the legal battle between the Biden Administration and the Supreme Court, Georgia student loan borrowers, on average, are among some of the most indebted student loan borrowers in the country.

According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Georgia borrowers have accumulated the second-highest amount of student debt per borrower out of all 50 states, with each borrower estimated to owe an average of $41,826. 

Excluding the District of Columbia, the state is only bested by Maryland, whose borrowers owe an average balance of $42,543.

Georgia is home to more than 1,600,000 indebted borrowers, falling short of only seven other states, all of which outnumber Georgia in total population, according to the U.S. Census. The state’s borrower delinquency rate falls at just under 10%.

The Supreme Court ruled to strike down President Biden’s long-standing student debt forgiveness plan in June, dismissing the program as unconstitutional. If implemented, the initiative would have erased up to $20,000 of outstanding student debt for approved applicants, eliminating approximately $430 million worth of debt on a national scale.

Since the ruling, the Biden Administration has announced an alternative solution to assist borrowers in the short term, finalizing a repayment plan allowing for smaller monthly payments, and a separate initiative from the Department of Education offering extended forgiveness to borrowers skipping or making partial payments for up to 12 months.

The United States’ roughly 43 million active borrowers owe approximately $1.7 trillion in student debt as of the first quarter of this year, according to the Education Data Initiative.

After undergoing a three-year pause initially set in motion by the pandemic, student loan payments are scheduled to resume this October. Interest will begin to accrue on outstanding debt on September 1.