Default Rate

The DE has a good story on the student loan default rate at SIUC. The 4.5 % rate is lower than the national rate of 7% but higher than a number of other Illinois public universties. SIUE, for example, has a default rate 2.9%.

The shocking statistic I saw in the story was the 24.7% default rate among students at John A Logan College. Apparently default rates have ballooned since the recession hit as JALC had rates of "only" 17% as recently as 2007. It's to be expected at both institutions as SIUC has traditionally served lower income students and 2 year colleges such as JALC usually get students who want to complete their first two years at a cheaper institution before transferring tot he more expensive 4 year college.

How to Fix SIUC

The Free U blog has a proposal on how to get SIUC (and other Illinois universities) out of the financial mess it's in. An interesting point the post makes is how low of a debt load SIUC students typically graduate compared to the debt carries by students at other state universities.