September 10, 2009

Cohort Analysis: Identify Borrower Characteristics and Trends

On Sept. 14, 2009, the Department of Education (ED) will release FFY 2007 Cohort Default Rates for all eligible schools. The cohort default rate is defined as the percentage of a school's borrowers who enter repayment on Federal Stafford, Federal SLS, or Direct Stafford loans during a particular federal fiscal year and default or meet other specified conditions prior to the end of the next fiscal year.

Looking to learn more about your school’s defaulted borrower population? OGSLP offers a cohort analysis service as part of our ongoing default prevention efforts. Using a school’s cohort rate data supplied by ED via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG), we can identify characteristics of cohort rate borrowers, including general default trends and types of borrowers who are more likely to default. Identifying these higher-risk borrower groups helps schools prioritize resources as they build campus default prevention programs.

OGSLP’s Default Prevention team is trained and readily available to help schools reach their default prevention goals. If you have questions or if you’d like to request a cohort analysis, contact Wayne Sparks, OGSLP’s Default Prevention Manager, at 405.234.4358, 800.358.5460 (toll-free) or wsparks@ogslp.org.