Official Cohort Default Rates
Camarillo, Calif., October 26, 2016 — U.S. Department of Education statistics released this fall show a lower percentage of CSU Channel Islands (CI) students default on student loans when compared to national, state and public default statistics.
The FY2013 three-year Official Cohort Default Rates show CI’s default rate at 4.4 percent, below the national rate of 11.3 percent over the last three years; the California rate of 10.4 percent, and the 11.3 percent rate for public institutions.
“I’m really proud of our default rate and I am consistently working to ensure our default rate stays low,” said CI’s Director of Financial Aid & Scholarships Sunshine Garcia.
When Garcia first began working for CI five years ago, CI’s default rate was 9.8 percent.
Garcia credits the low default rate in part to the programs CI has implemented to educate graduating students about options available to them if they have trouble repaying their student loans.
“We’ve really made a commitment to ensure students get the proper resources when they graduate,” Garcia said. “We have a partnership with USA Funds, Student Connections. They work with students that we identify as having issues paying their loans. They help students look at different repayment options.”
USA Funds is a 56-year old nonprofit corporation that works with students and parents to improve access to postsecondary education. Student Connections is a division of USA Funds dedicated to helping students.
“Also, this tells us our students are finding jobs so they are able to begin repaying their student loans,” Garcia said.
Students are to begin repaying loans when they graduate, leave the university, or when an undergraduate drops to 6 units or below. For graduate students, repayment begins when they drop to 4 units or below.
Garcia believes it’s also been helpful for her office to set up a booth during CI’s Grad Fest, a festival with a variety of resources for seniors preparing to graduate.
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About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands(CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting CI's Social Media.