Number: RS21760
Title: Student Loan Cohort Default Rates: Exemptions for Certain Minority Serving Institutions
Authors: Charmaine Jackson, Domestic Social Policy Division 
Abstract: During the 1980s federal student loan defaults were on the rise. Congress responded with various legislative measures intended to curb the number of defaults. In 1990 Congress began holding higher education institutions responsible for their student loan cohort default rates. Institutions that meet or exceed a 25-percent threshold for each year in a three-year period are ineligible to participate in the federal student loan program and the Pell Grant program. Historically black colleges and universities and certain tribally controlled colleges and universities have been exempted from the penalties for exceeding the cohort default rate thresholds. This exemption is scheduled to expire in June 2004.
Pages: 5
Date: Updated March 8, 2004