Indiana Business College is a 105-year-old statewide system of 11 campuses and an online program. The private career school offers bachelor’s and associate degrees, certificates and diploma programs. The college serves approximately 4,500 students.

Program
Indiana Business Colleges uses USA Funds Debt Manager ^® to contact student-loan borrowers and help them resolve past-due loans. The school has developed customized communication and call strategies for each of its 11 campuses. Delinquency letters are customized to meet the needs of the student population at each campus. The school sends letters at five different intervals: grace period, 15-30 days delinquent, 31-60 days delinquent, 61-90 days delinquent, and more than 90 days delinquent. IBC attempts phone calls on a daily basis to all delinquent borrowers. If contact is made with a delinquent student-borrower, and the borrower does not have the means to resolve the payment problem through fax, e-mail or online, IBC staff members go the extra mile, for example, by providing home visits or visits to the borrower’s workplace.

Monthly delinquency reports are produced for each campus. The reports list all students whose payments are15-400 days delinquent. The school also provides awards and recognition to those campuses that meet goals in resolving loan delinquencies.

IBC conducts individual financial-aid meetings with each student on more than one occasion, and provides loan counseling in addition to the entrance interview for each additional loan period. Students are encouraged to borrow conservatively.

Results
As a result of these efforts, the cohort-default rate for the main campus has been reduced to 4.8 percent, according to draft figures for the 2005 cohort, down from the final 2003 cohort-default rate of 7.3 percent. In addition, the school reports that its initiatives have helped improve student credit scores, increased student-retention rates, and enhanced the level of trust between the college and its students.