HBCUs Succeed in Lowering Student Loan Default Rates

In case you were questioning the value of an HBCU experience or education, ask yourself; how many colleges or universities do you know actively work to help students pay back their student loans?

In the report, 12 federal aid-dependent historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) made radical changes to their financial aid processes to avoid losing eligibility. Those practices, including the creation of “default manager” position and tracking contact information for students after graduation, resulted in dramatic drops in the number of defaults. Seven of the 12 schools are Texas-based HBCUs. The seven are Huston-Tillotson, Jarvis Christian, Paul Quinn, Southwestern Christian, Texas and Wiley colleges and Texas Southern University.

Obviously, the HBCUs have a vested interest in staving off defaulting students, given the extraordinarily high number of HBCU students that require financial assistance. If they can’t get students to repay, they stand to lose award receiving status with the federal government.

But, the case can be made that these institutions also have the students and graduates’ best interests at heart, as the students have more to lose lasting,credit destroying penalties than do the institutions.

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