SNC Grads Rank High in Significant Indicator for Future Security

Student loans are a fact of life for most college students. But they’re not so worrisome when you know you can repay them with relative ease. And St. Norbert grads can. The latest data published by the U.S. Department of Education shows the nationwide federal student loan default rate is 9.7 percent. For private schools specifically, it’s 6.7 percent. And St. Norbert’s rate? A mere 1 percent.

Loan default rates are an important metric. Low rates indicate an institution’s graduates are securing jobs with salaries high enough to allow them to repay their student loans. They’re also indicative of schools that support their students after graduation. High default rates, in contrast, indicate the opposite. In fact, institutions with default rates of 30 percent or higher may be subject to sanctions, which include losing the ability to offer federal student aid.

St. Norbert consistently ranks among the top schools nationwide when it comes to low default rates, and in fact is number one in Wisconsin. During the last nine years, SNC’s rate averaged just 2.3 percent. And while that’s obviously great news for students’ pocketbooks, being financially secure is also key to maintaining good physical and mental health. In fact, financial security is considered one of the nationally recognized eight dimensions of wellness.

Nov. 17, 2020