When it comes time to repay your federal student loan(s), if a payment is missed the loan(s) become past due, or delinquent. If the loan(s) remain delinquent for 90 days or more, your loan servicer will report the delinquency to the three major credit bureaus. This may affect your ability to sign up for utilities, get a cell phone plan, or get approved to rent an apartment.
If the loan(s) remain in delinquency for at least 270 days, they will be considered in default. Consequences of default include, but are not limited to:
- Inability to apply for periods of deferment or forbearance
- Loss of eligibility for additional federal student aid
- Withholding of tax refunds
- Wage garnishment
The U.S. Department of Education releases official cohort default rates once per year. A cohort default rate is the percentage of a school's borrowers who enter repayment on certain Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program or William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans during a particular federal fiscal year (FY), October 1st to September 30th, and default or meet other specified conditions prior to the end of the second following fiscal year. The FY 2020 national cohort default rate is 0.0%. Please refer to the chart below for Texas A&M University’s most recent cohort default rates.
OPE ID
| School
| Type
| Control
| PRGMS
|
003632
| TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY 805 RUDDER TOWER COLLEGE STATION TX 77843-1246
| Master's Degree or Doctor's Degree
| Public
| Both (FFEL/FDL)
|
| FY2020 | FY2019 | FY2018 |
Default Rate | 0% | 0.6% | 2.2% |
No. in Default | 0 | 54 | 189 |
No. in Repay | 8,280 | 8,242 | 8,409 |
Enrollment figures
Percentage Calculation | 73,308
11.29% | 73,267
11.25% | 72,775
11.55% |
Source: Federal Student Aid,
https://nsldsfap.ed.gov/cdr-searchable-database/school/searchENROLLMENT: To provide context for the Cohort Default Rate (CDR) data, we include Enrollment Figures (students enrolled at any time during the year) and the corresponding Percentage Calculation (borrowers entering repayment divided by that enrollment figure). There is no direct relationship between the timing of when a borrower entered repayment and any particular enrollment year; we have chosen to use the academic year ending on the 30th of June before the beginning of the cohort year.
For more information on understanding default, please visit Federal Student Aid’s Student Loan Delinquency and Default webpage.