Students walk to class at Cleveland State Community College in this file photo.DEFAULT RATES BY SCHOOLHere is a look at local two-year default rates, reflecting the percentage of students from each school who haven’t paid on their loans in more than a year. The national average is 8.8 percent.• UTC: 8.4 percent• Tennessee Temple: 13.8• Richmont Graduate University: 0• Chattanooga State: 12.8 percent• Bryan College: 3.8 percent• Southern Adventist University: 3.3 percent• Pentecostal Theological Seminary: 1.5 percent• New Concepts School of Cosmetology: 20.9 percent• Lee University: 8.1 percent• Franklin Academy: 11.7 percent• Cleveland State Community College: 13.7 percentSource: U.S. Department of EducationREPAYMENT OPTIONSStudents do have repayment options. Payment can be deferred for certain career choices, and the government will tier payments based on income. For more information, see IBRinfo.org.Source: Project on Student Debt
Defaulting on a student loan can haunt you — standing in the way of a new job, buying a house, renting an apartment, going back to school.
But recently released national education data show more students coming out of Chattanooga-area colleges and universities aren’t making payments on their debt.
At the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the percentage of students who hadn’t made a loan payment in more than a year jumped from 6.5 in 2008 to 8.4 in 2010, according to figures published this month by the U.S. Department of Education. At for-profit Chattanooga College the default rate rose from 7.7 percent to 12.8 percent.
Community colleges show similar trends. Cleveland State Community College’s default rate increased 1.7 percentage points to 13.7 in 2010, and at Chattanooga State Community College the rate increased 2.3 points to 17.3 percent.