Parents of young children particularly struggled to repay their loans. However, the default rates for student-parents at for-profits are disproportionately high compared to default rates for all borrowers, which could suggest that these colleges are not providing the resources student-parents need to succeed.ĭefault rates are even worse for parents of young children These data fall in line with other research that shows that students who first enroll at for-profit colleges have higher default rates than other types of institutions. That’s double the share of community colleges and 10 times the share of public, four-year institutions. In fact, 44 percent of for-profit defaulters were parents, the highest share of any sector. As a result, students with children were only 17 percent of undergraduate borrowers but represented 27 percent of all undergraduate loan defaultsĮven though for-profit colleges enrolled 20 percent of all undergraduate borrowers, 60 percent of student-parents who defaulted started at these institutions. That’s 1.5 times the rate of all undergraduates and almost twice the rate of borrowers without children. Nearly half of students with children who entered college in 2004-46 percent-defaulted on their federal loans within 12 years. Almost half of student-parents default on their loans Americans could also have confidence that our student loan system is built to serve students, even when they face difficult odds. Taxpayer dollars could be diverted to student outreach instead of being spent attempting to collect defaulted loans. Fewer defaults would also benefit the nation as a whole. Lower default rates would allow more student-parents to experience the potential socioeconomic returns of a college education. These consequences can compromise the ability of student-parents, particularly those who are single, to provide adequate resources and opportunities for their families. This is a big problem for student-parents who default, 54 percent of whom did not earn a credential. Defaulted borrowers also lose access to additional federal financial aid, which can compromise their ability to re-enroll in school. The federal government can garnish wages and tax returns of defaulted borrowers, even if they are low-income. The consequences of defaultīorrowers who default on their loans see their credit scores plummet, making it harder to take on additional debt, to rent or purchase a home, or to even get a job. The federal government, states, and institutions must find ways to better address the needs of student-parents if the goal is to give them the opportunity to provide a better future for themselves and their families. When student-parents don’t have access to comprehensive support systems, they suffer, both while enrolled and after. When these students borrow and default, they are thrust into a financial situation that is difficult to remedy.Ĭombined with low completion rates, these figures demonstrate how much our higher education system struggles to serve those who need extra assistance. Students with children are disproportionately women of color, and most are enrolled at community and for-profit colleges. There are about 4.8 million undergraduates who are parents, 2.7 million of whom borrow to cover the costs of school. Student-parents are not a small subset of higher education enrollment. For these borrowers, who are often the sole providers for the family, default can keep them entrenched in their current financial situations, making it all the more difficult to improve their circumstances. As a result, 1 in 10 undergraduate borrowers was a single parent, but these students represented 2 out of every 5 undergraduate defaulters. For African Americans, single parents made up 90 percent of student-parent defaulters. That’s double the rate of borrowers without children.Įven worse, 70 percent of student-parents who defaulted were single. The analyses presented here show that almost half of student-parents who began college in the 2003-04 school year and borrowed a federal loan for their undergraduate education defaulted within 12 years of enrolling. Now, new data show another challenge for student-parents: repaying their federal loans. For many student-parents these stresses are too much to handle only one-third of undergraduate parents finish a credential within six years of enrolling. Many institutions do not offer any child care and classes may only be available at inconvenient times. Attending college as a parent can be a daunting affair: It’s hard to find enough hours in the day for work, family, and school.
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