UNLV, UNR default rates on student loans low

Shaunta Grimes

Thursday, Oct. 7, 1999 | 11:28 a.m.

Being the sixth least expensive university system in the western United States is a factor in UNLV and the University of Nevada, Reno, having student default rates below the national average, according to university spokespersons.

The national student loan default rate decreased to 8.8 percent in 1997, from 9.6 percent in 1996, Secretary of Education Richard Riley announced Tuesday.

UNLV has a student default rate of 8 percent and UNR's rate is 5.3 percent.

Having low default rates allows a school to participate in federal financial aid programs and increases its flexibility in delivering money to students, Dr. Judy Belanger, UNLV student financial services director, said.

UNLV's default rate rose in 1997 from 7.3 percent in 1996. Belanger said one reason for the rise is students receive funding from several institutions and it is easy to lose contact with one or more of them.

She said the university expects a significant decline in student loan default rates by 2001 because of a new program implemented in 1995 called Direct Lending that only allows students to borrow money from one lender, the federal government, leading to fewer defaults.

Greg Bortolin, UNR manager of media relations, said the university's low default rate is due in part to a high availabilty of student employment and an active scholarship program.

Bortolin said the affordability of UNR is also a contributing factor.

"At one point it was part of our recruitment strategy that students left UNR without debt," he said.