SCC Student Loan Default Rate Below National Average
Dave Sonenberg and his financial aid staff at Southeast Community College may not be teachers in the classroom, but they educate students who borrow money to attend SCC.
Sonenberg, dean of student services/financial aid, said the College's low cohort student loan default rate is testament to his staff's work and some other factors.
"We've been very fortunate the past few years, and we're very pleased with the latest numbers," Sonenberg said. "We provide our students entrance and exit counseling. I don't think we do much more than other institutions, but I think there is some appreciable percentage because of that Nebraska and Midwest sense of responsibility and work ethic. It's impossible to calculate mathematically, but I really think that comes into play to some degree."
With a three-year average of 5.36 percent, SCC's cohort default rate ranks sixth among two-year public schools in the category of more than 2,000 borrowers. In September, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that the fiscal year 2007 national student loan cohort default rate increased to 6.7 percent, up from the FY 2006 rate of 5.2 percent.
Duncan said the economy had a negative impact on borrowers. As a historical comparison, in FY 1990, nearly one in four borrowers defaulted on their federal loans when default rates set an all-time high of 22.4 percent. The rate dropped to a record low of 4.5 percent in FY 2003.
SCC's increase in enrollment equates to an increase in the number of student loans, Sonenberg said. During the 2007-2008 academic year, SCC's student loans totaled $20,697,390. In 2008-2009, that amount increased to $27,124,373. Sonenberg said he and his staff do what they can to help students understand loans and the responsibilities tied to them.
"You can only do so much, then you're at the mercy of the students who borrow," he said. "It's a federal requirement to provide entrance and exit loan counseling. To what degree it's enforced is up to the individual institution."
SCC student borrowers go online to take the entrance loan counseling, which explains the process and their responsibility for repayment, as well as repayment options.
"It hits home that this is a loan, not a grant," Sonenberg said.
The College also ensures that students receive counseling as they graduate.
"We send letters to all of our students as they graduate and tell them they need to do exit counseling," Sonenberg said. "And we hit it pretty hard at orientation. We stress that these loans are extremely easy to get and that they do have interest rates attached."
SCC's financial advice to eligible students is simple: Make sure you need the loan. If you don't need it, don't get it.
According to the Department of Education, schools with excessive default rates may lose eligibility from one or more federal student aid programs. Borrowers who need assistance in repaying their student loans can visit www.federalstudentaid.ed.gov or can contact the holders of their loans to learn about repayment options. To view a state-by-state listing of three-year (2005-2007) cohort student loan default rates, go to: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/defaultmanagement/cdr.html#table
For more information, contact:
Stu Osterthun
Administrative Director of Public Information and Marketing
(402) 323-3401
sosterthun@southeast.edu
Sonenberg, dean of student services/financial aid, said the College's low cohort student loan default rate is testament to his staff's work and some other factors.
"We've been very fortunate the past few years, and we're very pleased with the latest numbers," Sonenberg said. "We provide our students entrance and exit counseling. I don't think we do much more than other institutions, but I think there is some appreciable percentage because of that Nebraska and Midwest sense of responsibility and work ethic. It's impossible to calculate mathematically, but I really think that comes into play to some degree."
With a three-year average of 5.36 percent, SCC's cohort default rate ranks sixth among two-year public schools in the category of more than 2,000 borrowers. In September, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that the fiscal year 2007 national student loan cohort default rate increased to 6.7 percent, up from the FY 2006 rate of 5.2 percent.
Duncan said the economy had a negative impact on borrowers. As a historical comparison, in FY 1990, nearly one in four borrowers defaulted on their federal loans when default rates set an all-time high of 22.4 percent. The rate dropped to a record low of 4.5 percent in FY 2003.
SCC's increase in enrollment equates to an increase in the number of student loans, Sonenberg said. During the 2007-2008 academic year, SCC's student loans totaled $20,697,390. In 2008-2009, that amount increased to $27,124,373. Sonenberg said he and his staff do what they can to help students understand loans and the responsibilities tied to them.
"You can only do so much, then you're at the mercy of the students who borrow," he said. "It's a federal requirement to provide entrance and exit loan counseling. To what degree it's enforced is up to the individual institution."
SCC student borrowers go online to take the entrance loan counseling, which explains the process and their responsibility for repayment, as well as repayment options.
"It hits home that this is a loan, not a grant," Sonenberg said.
The College also ensures that students receive counseling as they graduate.
"We send letters to all of our students as they graduate and tell them they need to do exit counseling," Sonenberg said. "And we hit it pretty hard at orientation. We stress that these loans are extremely easy to get and that they do have interest rates attached."
SCC's financial advice to eligible students is simple: Make sure you need the loan. If you don't need it, don't get it.
According to the Department of Education, schools with excessive default rates may lose eligibility from one or more federal student aid programs. Borrowers who need assistance in repaying their student loans can visit www.federalstudentaid.ed.gov or can contact the holders of their loans to learn about repayment options. To view a state-by-state listing of three-year (2005-2007) cohort student loan default rates, go to: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/defaultmanagement/cdr.html#table
For more information, contact:
Stu Osterthun
Administrative Director of Public Information and Marketing
(402) 323-3401
sosterthun@southeast.edu
