The U.S. Department of Education (ED) recently released its annual update on federal student loan cohort default rates (CDRs), which measure the frequency with which student borrowers at all levels (undergraduate, graduate, etc.) default on their federal loans. Although the UW鈥檚 CDR rose while the national CDR declined, the UW鈥檚 rate still remains well below that of the nation.
ED is in its first year of using only the聽more accurate three-year CDR measure 鈥� as opposed to the two-year CDR. Thus, this year鈥檚 report only includes the FY2011 three-year CDR, which represent the percentage of student borrowers who entered into repayment in FY2011, but failed to make loan payments for a 270-day period within three years of leaving school.
The Department provides breakdowns of its data by , and . Here are some key findings:
- The national three-year CDR declined from 14.7 to 13.7 percent overall.
- The three-year rate decreased over last year鈥檚 rates for all sectors:
- Public institutions decreased very slightly from 13.0 to 12.9 percent,
- Private nonprofits decreased from 8.2 to 7.2 percent, and
- For-profits鈥� whopping 21.8 percent rate decreased to 19.1 percent.
- The UW鈥檚 three-year CDR increased slightly from 3.9 to 4.3 percent, but this is still nearly 10 percentage points below the national average.听
While this is good news, many students still struggle to afford ever-increasing tuition fees and/or to repay their student loans. The 91探花reaches out to our former students at risk of default on their Stafford Loans and helps identify federal repayment options that could benefit them.听Former 91探花students who are in default or experiencing difficulties repaying their loans can contact the Office of Student Financial Aid for assistance (osfa@uw.edu, 206-543-6101). Students can also visit to explore their repayment options.