More than 5000 students take classes at Dalton State College.
According to the Market Watch report from the Wall Street Journal, 21% of Dalton State students defaulted on federal student loans in the last few years.
Carol Jones of Student Financial Aid passionately defends her school and students, citing a number of reasons to for the high rate of defaults.
"In February, the unemployment rate in Dalton is about three percentage points higher than the national average. It's over 10% here and it's about 7.8% in the nation".
Vice President of enrollment services Dr Angela Harris feels that where there is affordability there is a greater risk of defaults and that the public needs to remember the Market Watch article narrowly focused on affordability versus default.
"An assessment has been made on the default rate for that group, now that is a small slice of the bigger picture."
The original is available at the link below,
http://articles.marketwatch.com/2013-02-14/finance/37089033_1_student-borrowers-graduation-rate-mark-kantrowitz