Colleges With the Lowest Student Default Rates
Colleges with the lowest student default rates often provide learners with alternative financial aid options, including scholarships, tuition assistance, and work-study programs. Students with fewer student loans face less risk for defaulting on their payments.
Read on to learn more about colleges with low student default rates and the effects of defaulting on a student loan. You can also learn about next steps if you do default on a student loan.
Our ranking methodology considers several factors, including what percentage of a school's student body receives aid, how much aid the average student receives, whether the school promises to meet 100% of demonstrated need, and what type of aid the school offers.
Top Colleges With the Lowest Student Default Rates
Rank | School | Location | Description | Toggle |
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1 |
The University of Chicago |
Chicago, Illinois |
Located in the Windy City, UChicago serves approximately 6,800 undergraduates and 10,000 graduate students. The university offers more than 50 majors and 40 minors for undergraduates. Six Nobel Prize winners currently teach at UChicago, among a faculty of almost 2,400 full-time professors. The university also features a worldwide alumni network of more than 180,000 individuals.
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2 |
Pomona College |
Claremont, California |
Based in Claremont, California, Pomona provides almost 50 majors and minors in the arts, social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences. The college serves over 1,600 students and maintains an average class size of 15 learners. Pomona funds internships for about 80 students each summer and offers paid experiential learning opportunities to about 130 students each academic year.
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3 |
Wesleyan University |
Middletown, Connecticut |
Located in Middletown, Connecticut, Wesleyan enrolls about 3,000 undergraduates and 200 graduate students. The university features a student-to-faculty ratio of 8-to-1. About 68% of incoming students ranked in the top 10% of their high school class. Wesleyan offers 45 different majors, 17 minors, and over 1,000 courses. The university also provides 12 different certificate programs.
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4 |
Carnegie Mellon University |
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, CMU enrolls more than 14,500 students and boasts over 109,000 alumni worldwide. CMU is one of 25 university members of the World Economic Forum's Global University Leaders Forum. The university offers 80 majors across six different academic colleges, including fine arts, information systems, and the sciences. About 14% of incoming students in the 2020 school year received a Pell Grant.
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5 |
Swarthmore College |
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania |
Approximately 33% of Swarthmore graduates go on to earn or pursue a doctoral degree. The college features an 8-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio and more than 600 courses and research opportunities for students. A liberal arts college, Swarthmore provides more than 40 areas of study in the fine arts and humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. Swarthmore also offers an honors program, which includes small, seminar-style classes with oral and written exams administered by experts in the field.
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6 |
Vassar College |
Poughkeepsie, New York |
Based in Poughkeepsie, New York, Vassar enrolls over 2,400 students. The college maintains an 8-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio, employing more than 350 faculty members. Students may choose from roughly 50 different majors across 30 departments. Students declare their major by the end of their sophomore year. Vassar also offers two accelerated, dual-degree programs in partnership with Columbia University (BA/MPH) and Dartmouth University (BA/BE).
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7 |
The University of Notre Dame |
Notre Dame, Indiana |
Based in Indiana, ND enrolls over 8,000 undergraduate students and almost 4,000 graduate students. The university offers 75 different majors across eight academic colleges. Eighty-seven percent of first-year students participated in community service in 2020. Additionally, 97% of recently graduated grad students found jobs that align with their career goals.
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8 |
Hamilton College |
Clinton, New York |
Located in Clinton, New York, Hamilton College is the third-oldest college in the state. Hamilton enrolls over 1,800 students and offers fully need-blind admission. Around 81% of graduating seniors completed at least two internships while enrolled. The college offers almost 60 areas of study and maintains a 9-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio.
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9 |
Washington and Lee University |
Lexington, Virginia |
Based in Lexington, Virginia, W&L enrolls over 1,800 students. The college is the ninth-oldest institution of higher education in the country. About 75% of students engage in community service while at W&L. W&L employs more than 200 faculty members and features a student-to-faculty ratio of 8-to-1. Undergraduate students may choose from 36 majors. About 15% of W&L students pursue a double major.
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10 |
Stanford University |
Stanford, California |
Located near Palo Alto, California, Stanford enrolls over 16,000 students and features a 5-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio. The university offers programs in business, energy and environmental science, medicine, and the humanities. Nineteen current Nobel laureates teach or remain involved with the university community.
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11 |
Claremont Mckenna College |
Claremont, California |
Located in Claremont, California, CMC offers a liberal arts education with 32 areas of study to choose from. CMC enrolls around 8,500 students and boasts a student-to-faculty ratio of 8-to-1. Around 98% of CMC students complete an internship, and 91% of students graduate within six years. The college offers several types of financial aid, including academic scholarships, need-based scholarships and grants, and federal work-study opportunities.
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12 |
Bucknell University |
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania |
Located in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, Bucknell University serves over 3,700 undergraduate students. The university offers 65 academic majors taught by more than 360 faculty members. Bucknell features an average class size of 20 students. Half of Bucknell's learners study abroad, and approximately 95% of recent graduates reported securing employment or further education within nine months of graduation. In 2018, PayScale ranked Bucknell 11th among liberal arts colleges for alumni median lifetime earnings.
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13 |
Oberlin College |
Oberlin, Ohio |
Located in northeast Ohio, Oberlin features a student-to-faculty ratio of 11-to-1. The college offers more than 40 different majors, and the 2020 applicant pool included accepted students from 44 different states and 41 different countries. About 75% of Oberlin's learners study abroad, and the college boasts around 40,000 alumni. Oberlin offers classes through two colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences and the Conservatory of Music.
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14 |
Wake Forest University |
Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
Based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Wake Forest serves more than 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The university offers 45 majors and 60 minors across six academic colleges. About 99% of the university's undergraduate classes are capped at 50 students, and Wake Forest features a student-to-faculty ratio of 11-to-1. The university boasts more than 72,000 alumni.
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15 |
George Mason University |
Fairfax, Virginia |
Located in Fairfax, Virginia, Mason enrolls more than 37,000 students. About 80% of graduates find work within six months of earning their degree. Mason offers over 140 undergraduate degrees and concentrations. The university employs more than 1,200 faculty members. Mason also offers hundreds of fully online or hybrid courses each semester.
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What Is a Default Rate?
"Default rate" refers to the rate of all loans that borrowers do not repay. Financial institutions declare loans in default if the borrower does not make any payments for an extended period of time. Lenders often transfer defaulted loans to a third-party debt collection agency to collect the money from the borrower.
A default rate, also known as a "penalty rate," can also refer to a very high interest rate that lenders apply when borrowers begin to make late payments or miss payments entirely. Lenders may lower the penalty rate if the borrower makes enough payments on time.
What Is the Default Rate for Student Loans?
Students who take out loans to pay for college must pay them back or face the penalties of defaulting. In 2019, Forbes listed the official default rate after three years for student loans at 10.1%. This rate marked a decrease from 2017, when the default rate for student loans was listed at 11.5%.
However, a Government Accountability Office report noted that graduates who enroll in forbearance — a strategy that temporarily relieves borrowers of their obligations to pay their loans back for a period of 4-5 years — likely did not count toward the official default rate if they defaulted on their loans after four or more years.
Which Types of Colleges Have High Student Default Rates?
For-profit colleges accounted for the highest student default rates, making up about a third of defaulting borrowers. A for-profit college has an individual or group of owners who earn a profit from tuition payments.
Public community colleges ranked as the next highest contributors, while public and private nonprofit four-year colleges saw the lowest student default rates. Nonprofit colleges receive leadership from a board of directors who must invest all money that the school makes back into the school.
What Happens If You Default on Your Student Loans?
Students who default on their loans may face the following consequences:
- They lose eligibility for further federal financial aid.
- The entire unpaid balance of the loan and any interest owed becomes due immediately.
- Credit ratings go down, lowering a borrower's chances to get a credit card, buy a car, or buy a house.
- Creditors take loan payments directly out of any wages earned.
Students who default on loans may experience consequences for years, particularly if their credit rating goes down. Creditors can also take students to court over defaulted loans, and academic institutions can withhold transcripts.
How Can I Fix My Student Loan Default?
Students or graduates who go into default can escape by starting to make payments again. Students who make enough on-time payments in a row can fix their default status and resume a regular payment schedule.
Loan servicers can help students in loan default figure out a payment plan. If a student defaults on a federal loan, the government assigns a loan servicer to the borrower at no cost.
Potential plans for students in default include income-driven payments and loan consolidation. However, you should always research all of your options before committing to a payment plan.