The number of federal student loan defaults at Owens Community College more than
doubled between 2007 and 2009, ranking the two-year college in Perrysburg
Township among the highest in the nation.
Bowling Green State University had 228 student loans in default in 2009, ranking it
124th nationally among two and four-year public colleges and universities.
The data was released last week by the U.S. Department of Education.
BGSU’s default rate is 5.2 percent with a total of 4,315 loans in repayment. In 2008
BGSU’s default rate was 4.5 percent with 215 in default out of 4,769 in
repayment. BGSU’s figures were 4.1 percent and 187 for 2007.
The U.S. Department of Education reported the 2009 fiscal year national student loan
cohort default rate rose to 8.8 percent from 7 percent in 2008. The default
rates increased for all sectors: from 6 percent to 7.2 percent for public
institutions, from 4 percent to 4.6 percent for private institutions, and from
11.6 percent to 15 percent at for-profit schools.
Betsy Johnson, dean of enrollment services at Owens, said this morning the figures
are largely the result of the nation’s economic woes that coincided with that
time period.
"I don’t think we’ve seen the end of this. The economy is still not where it
was," Johnson said.
She explained that colleges and universities act as agents for the federal loan
program but the schools do not grant the loans. There are no credit checks and
the dollar amounts are up to the government.
In 2007 Owens had 3,510 students in repayment with 266 in default. The number in
repayment in 2008 was 3,795, with 368 in default and in 2009 there were 3,994 in
repayment and 557 in default.
Johnson said loans in repayment are those where students have either graduated or
stopped attending school.
She said Owens remains attractive to students because of lower tuition costs and
other factors.
The Department of Education indicated schools with excessive default rates may lose
eligibility in one or more federal student aid programs. This year, five schools
are subject to sanctions for rates that either exceeded 25 percent for three
consecutive years, exceeded 40 percent in the latest year, or both. Four of the
five are for-profit schools and one in a private school. None are in Ohio.