Don’t Fall! Keeping Students Away From the Precipice of Default

Abstract: 

Students focused on the beautiful vista that a postsecondary education provides can sometimes find themselves at the edge of a cliff, dangerously close to the precipice of student loan default that can sour even the best college experiences. Among the students who entered repayment in Cohort Year 2004, over 144,000 eventually fell off of that cliff into student loan default. Sure, some did not intend to repay, but how many simply found themselves too close to the edge with so few options that only one miscalculated step made them tumble into default? By adapting our default aversion efforts to meet the specific needs of our students, and practicing them effectively and efficiently, we may see even more success and lower default rates.

Originally published in the March, 2007 Student Aid Transcript.