Florida Community College at Jacksonville offers more than 200 education, training and enrichment courses and programs, serving more than 60,000 students at five campuses and five centers throughout the greater Jacksonville area and online.

Programs
Steadily increasing enrollments challenged the college to explore a more interactive and hands-on approach to the counseling of first-time student loan borrowers. As part of a college-wide initiative aimed at better educating first-time borrowers, the college launched a pilot program of in-person borrower counseling. In addition to online loan counseling, the college instituted a mandatory, hour-long, in-person debt management counseling session for all first-time borrowers.

Since July 2007, more than 3,700 first-time borrowers have attended more than 300 debt management sessions.

As part of the same college-wide initiative, a full-time student default prevention manager position was established. Funds were allocated to identify students at highest risk for loan default and offer tuition assistance grants instead of loans. Additional funding provided dedicated office space and two part-time student-workers who send letters and e-mail communications to borrowers whose loan payments are between 60-120 days past due.

Results
Florida Community College at Jacksonville has seen its cohort default rate decline to its lowest level in 10 years. For the 2006-2007 academic year, the college recorded a reduction in loans issued to students. The number of loans offered to first-time borrowers decreased by 30 percent. Moreover, the 500 students who responded to a survey about the new in-person counseling program gave it an overwhelmingly positive rating.