Student and Parent Loans

Education loans are long-term funds that enable students and parents to pay educational expenses. When you accept a loan, you are legally obligated to repay the loan according to the terms of the promissory note.

Federal Direct Loans are available to students and parents regardless of family income. Federal loans have better terms than most private/bank loans. Most bank loans have high interest rates and do not have provisions for deferment that exist for federal loans. Loan repayments for Federal Direct Loans can be deferred until the student is no longer enrolled half time or more as an undergraduate or graduate student. Other deferment options are available while you are repaying a loan.

Cohort Default Rate Information 

The U.S. Department of Education provided the official fiscal year 2020 national student loan cohort default rate, which decreased to 0.0%, from 2.3% in fiscal year 2019.

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, October 1 to September 30, and default or meet other specified conditions prior to the end of the next fiscal year.

The UC Santa Cruz student loan default rate is 0.0%, compared to the national average of 0.0%.

Information on the national student loan default rate, as well as rates for individual schools, states, types of postsecondary institutions, and other sectors of the federal loan industry are available from the U.S. Department of Education.

Students who need further information about defaulted federal education debt may wish to visit the U.S. Department of Education Understanding Debt. The Department has many options available to borrowers to resolve their defaulted federal education debt, so read about your options before deciding on the right plan.

Did you Know? Fifty-seven percent of UC Santa Cruz undergraduate students who graduated between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022 graduated without loan debt (Federal Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, private loans). The average cumulative loan debt for graduating seniors who borrowed was $16,666.