Dive Summary:
- Due to its students' rising federal loan default rate, Yuba Community College District is pulling out of the federal student loan program in an attempt to preserve access to Pell Grants, federally subsidized campus jobs and other forms of financial aid, including Cal grants and state fee waivers.
- The move will cause hundreds of students to lose access to federal student loans, but the other forms of aid are used far more in the Yuba district, which serves a total of 15,000 students in Marysville and Woodland Community College.
- The district had its loan default rate projected to rise above 31% by a draft 2010 analysis, and a new U.S. Department of Education policy taking effect in 2014 would leave any school with a default rate above 30% for three consecutive years subject to sanctions.
From the article:
... "The loss of federal and state financial aid would have severe negative impact to students and the district," college district officials told trustees in a recent staff report recommending the action.
Woodland and Yuba community colleges joined 17 other community colleges in California not offering federal loans, often considered the most advantageous borrowing option for students. ...