All over the country, the average number of students defaulting on loans is rising, but UTC has worked hard to lower our student loan default.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe attribute UTC\u2019s declining default rates to a focus on educating students about personal finance and loan repayment options. The secret to our success has been the combination of dedicated staff to educate students face-to-face, and our partnership with SALT,\u201d said Dianne Cox, UTC director of financial aid. \u201cWith SALT\u2019s help, we\u2019re meeting our students where they are, delivering information to them in the manner they want to receive it and at a time when it\u2019s relevant to their own situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
SALT is a financial education resource that teaches students and alumni to make better decisions about managing money, borrowing for college, and repaying student loans. Since October 2011, UTC has partnered with the SALT program to provide students and alumni with additional financial literacy education, support, and loan repayment counseling. SALT integrates with the University\u2019s ongoing \u201cLive Like a UTC Student\u201d campaign, which aims to help students make smarter choices about borrowing and spending while they\u2019re in school.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want students to live like a student now, so they don\u2019t have to after graduation,\u201d says Cox. \u201cSALT is teaching our students how to borrow less, how to borrow the right type of loans, and how to develop good budgeting skills, so they\u2019ll be in a better financial position once they leave school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Default is a rising national problem for students leaving school, but UTC is taking decisive steps to keep its students out of default.<\/p>\n
UTC\u2019s Financial Aid Department offers money management events, tips for budgeting, workshops, guest lectures, and one-on-one confidential financial counseling to students. They help students with a number of financial issues, such as paying for college, student loan management, money management\/budgeting, saving\/investment education, building\/maintaining credit, and debt management.<\/p>\n
The Financial Aid Department has been able to add new staff to help students with their finances, including the Assistant Director of Client Services and the Financial Literacy Coordinator. UTC has also acquired a grant from the Chattanooga Foundation of Greater Chattanooga to hire Peer Financial Counselors to help even further with assisting students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese positions along with the rest of the financial aid staff create awareness regarding student debt and assist students with questions and counseling in the area of finances and financial aid,\u201d says Jeff Rector, Assistant Director of Client Services\/Training and Outreach in the Financial Aid Department.<\/p>\n
The Financial Aid Department is also dedicated to raising awareness about student debt throughout UTC and the larger community.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also helps to get the financial aid \u2018story\u2019 out to other departments on campus, which makes student debt a university issue rather than just a financial aid issue.\u00a0 We continue to build relationships and partnerships with other offices and organizations both on campus and in the community,\u201d says Rector.<\/p>\n
The influence of these measures can be seen in the cohort default rate at UTC versus the national average.<\/p>\n
The Department of Education uses the cohort default rate (CDR) to track default rates. This measurement is the percentage of cohorts (students entering repayment within the same year) who default on their loans.<\/p>\n
The national CDR rate has been on the rise for the past six years. The national two-year CDR (which tracks cohorts for two years) rose from 9.1% in the 2010 fiscal year to 10 % in the 2011 fiscal year. The national three-year CDR, which was implemented to better track how many students went into default, rose from 13.4% in the 2009 fiscal year to 14.7% in the 2010 fiscal year.<\/p>\n
However, while national averages continue to rise, UTC\u2019s average CDR has gone down for the past few years.<\/p>\n
UTC\u2019s two-year CDR has dropped from 7.3% for the Fiscal Year 2010 cohort to 6.4% for the FY 2011 cohort. The university\u2019s three-year CDR dropped from 12.1% in FY 2009 to 10.6% in FY 2010. The national two-year and three-year default rates, which have risen for the last several years, now stand at 10 percent and 14.7 percent respectively, according to recently released federal data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
All over the country, the average number of students defaulting on loans is rising, but UTC has worked hard to lower our student loan default.<\/p>\n