CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — A report compiled by the U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid Office shows that Clarion University falls below both the state and national level for student loan default rates.
Overall, 64 Pennsylvania institutions, including four-year public universities, two-year public colleges, and technical schools, reported that 10,128 out of 99,086 students who entered repayment on student loans in 2014 defaulted on those loans.
At Clarion University of Pennsylvania, just 7.4 percent of borrowers who started repaying student loans in 2014 defaulted on their loans by the end of 2016, compared to 10.22 percent in the state of Pennsylvania, and 11.5 percent nationally.
In relation to other PASSHE schools in the region, Clarion University’s student loan default rate seems to fall in the middle of the pack. Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s rate was 7.3 percent, as was California University of Pennsylvania’s. The outliers were Slippery Rock, at just 5.4 percent, and Edinboro, at 9.2 percent.
exploreClarion.com spoke to David Dollins, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management at Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
He noted that Clarion University has a number of strategies to help assist students in understanding their financial aid awards, including student loans they may incur while attending, including investing in scholarship dollars to help students realize a lower tuition payment, and increasing the amount of financial aid counseling being provided to students to help them better understand their financial aid.
He also noted the importance and focus on increasing retention efforts on campus.
“Research shows that there is a strong correlation between student success and support programs which create lower default rates. Thus, Clarion has invested staff and time into working to keep our students here and progressing successfully towards their degree,” Dollins said.
“We are proud that our default rate is lower than the national average, even though we know that default rates can fluctuate slightly from year to year based on the cohort of students in any given year.”
“With college costs rising across the country, more students are unable to attend full-time or even continuously. We have worked to keep costs as low as possible through merit and need-based awards, providing more than $2.9 million in the 2017-18 academic year alone to help keep Clarion University a best value in Pennsylvania.”
