State funding per student to public colleges in Georgia and many states has also declined since the last decade, and college costs have increased. The average state funding per student in the University System of Georgia has declined from $8,191 in fiscal year 2009 to $7,541 per student this fiscal year, according to state data. The average price of attendance at a state school swelled from $8,361 a year in 2006 to $14,791 in 2016, a 77 percent increase, a state auditor report found.

In response to concerns about rising costs and debt, the state's Board of Regents voted earlier this year not to raise tuition this school year. University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley announced last month plans to improve financial transparency for students that include developing detailed student aid award letters and the cost of not taking a full load of courses.

DeVos said a national conversation is needed about college costs. Educators, she said, should talk more with students about which educational pathways are best and be upfront with students about their loans, and the federal government must be a more responsible lender. DeVos said her office is working on efforts to be more transparent about debt, such as sharing information with students about how much they owe, likely on a mobile app her office recently created that DeVos promoted in her speech Tuesday.

She put some blame for the rising loan costs on the Obama administration, saying it conducted a “government takeover of student lending” in 2010.

“[A]s you know, in 2010 under the guise of helping expand the Pell grant program and paying for Obamacare, the previous administration federalized the student loan portfolio,” DeVos told the audience. “That move was paired with a consistent drumbeat of not-so-subtle signals that a traditional four-year college degree is the only path to and measure for success.”

Terry Hartle, who’s been involved in these issues for more than two decades, said he agreed with DeVos about her concerns that some colleges don’t clearly inform students about the loan process. Hartle, senior vice president for the Washington, D.C.-based American Council on Education — which represents about 1,700 college and university presidents — disagreed that the system is in crisis mode. He noted the default rate is 10.8 percent and that the Obama administration effort in 2010 to be more involved in borrowing without subsidies to private lenders for federally-backed loans was saving the government money.

“The fact is for the vast majority of borrowers … they will pay back their loans with minimal difficulty,” Hartle said.

The U.S. Department of Education has been in an ongoing legal battle concerning student loan forgiveness rules implemented during the Obama administration. A federal judge recently ruled the department must follow the Obama administration guidelines, which allow students to have their federal student loans forgiven if a school employed illegal or deceptive practices to encourage the students to borrow to attend the school. DeVos has proposed a new formula, calling the Obama-era rules confusing to schools and students and costly to the department.

Paying for college in Georgia

Average borrowed: 2010-11, $16,705; 2015-16, $21,907

Funding per student: 2009, $8,191; this year, $7,541

Cost of attending: 2006, $8,361 a year; 2016, $14,791

Sources: Southern Regional Education Board, state data