Obama Budget Sees Rising Student Loan Defaults

State by State Data Sheet

The president’s fiscal year 2016 budget out this week is projecting fantastic economic growth over the next decade, but one piece of the puzzle refuses to fit — student loan defaults.
The Department of Education‘s budget documents project that 25.3 percent of undergraduate Stafford loans (measured by dollars, not numbers of loans) issued next year will default at some point during the borrower’s repayment term. That is a full 2.5 percentage points from what the agency projected last year for the previous cohort of loans. And it is a large uptick given that those projections typically don’t move much from year to year

Every other student loan category also shows an increase in projected default rates. For Parent PLUS loans, it is 2 percentage points higher, now at 10.6 percent. On the graduate student side, while the Obama administration seems to be accounting for the fact that many more graduate students will take advantage and reap the benefits of the generous terms of Income-Based Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness, default rates for graduate Stafford and PLUS loans are still projected to increase

The Obama administration has not explained what is behind these new numbers. Meanwhile, trends that might help explain the projected increase are actually pointing in the other direction. The maximum Pell Grant for low-income students will reach its highest level ever in 2016. Enrollment in affordable repayment plans such as Income-Based Repayment is increasing rapidly as the administration continues to aggressively promote them. Interest rates on loans issued in 2016 will likely be lower than those issued the year before. Even the favorite whipping boy for student loan issues, the for-profit college industry, will take the smallest share of federal student loans in years, according to the president’s budget.

Maybe analysts at the Department of Education see trends in the way older loans are performing that suggest defaults on new loans are likely to come in higher, despite a rosy economic outlook, generous federal grants, tax benefits, and loan repayment terms. It may be that we are entering a new era of high default rates on student loans regardless of the strength of the economy or the size of government benefits.

3 Replies to “Obama Budget Sees Rising Student Loan Defaults”

  1. Joseph says:

    The president actually has alot for the masses and students especially, but it shouldn’t be strange that students would default in repayment of loan as the economic situation may not be the-same when they actually leave school with the numerous responsibilities and bills that needs to be paid for. I think the students aid bill of right is a good plan by the Obama administration for the students while we still expect more of this kind in the nearest future.

  2. george schusherepa says:

    College tuition nowadays has to do with A LOT of things, not the least of which is increased staff, use of lots of advanced technology, the cost of all those dorms, food and dining, etc. Believe it or not, it COSTS A LOT OF MONEY to operate all that shit. And colleges are constantly trying to outdo one another, renovate the world over and get themselves higher and higher on “Best Colleges” rankings and shit.

  3. Paul Mivot says:

    that is so true…great work

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