Salish Kootenai College is a four-year tribal school serving 1,800 students from American-Indian reservations in Montana and other western states. Low-income, nontraditional students comprise a large part of the school's enrollment, and many are single parents. Salish Kootenai College's graduates often live on reservations that have high rates of unemployment and poverty — even for those with a college education — according to Loan Officer Jackie Hendrickson-Swain, and students in the past frequently disregarded the consequences of education-loan default until it was too late. With the campus' default rate jumping to nearly 31 percent by 1997, the school was in danger of losing its eligibility to offer federal financial aid. It tackled the problem with a comprehensive borrower-contact campaign.

Programs
From the time that they express interest in applying for student loans through their repayment periods, Salish Kootenai College students are exposed to debt-management initiatives that emphasize personal contact.

Entrance-counseling sessions for borrowers go beyond lessons about rights and responsibilities in repaying loans to also include the collection of names and contact information for six people from each borrower who will know that borrower's address for the next 10 years. Hendrickson-Swain keeps the contact information on file for each borrower. Additionally, borrowers must attend exit counseling prior to each spring's final loan disbursement.

Meanwhile, as part of the school's commitment to students' successful completion of their education at Salish Kootenai College, Hendrickson-Swain works hand-in-hand with the school's retention officer and with faculty to keep tabs on students' academic progress. If instructors report that a student is not making satisfactory progress in class, that student must complete progress reports with instructors.

Salish Kootenai College works to stay in touch with its students once they leave school. Hendrickson-Swain contacts borrowers whenever she learns that they are delinquent in repaying their student loans. If attempts to reach borrowers by telephone and mail are unsuccessful, she will pay a personal visit to borrowers to go through deferment paperwork with them. For borrowers who seek deferment, the school offers to deliver to the appropriate organizations those borrowers' completed deferment forms.

Results
Salish Kootenai College's efforts have produced results that are positive and dramatic. The school's draft default rate for 2002 is 4.8 percent, down 84 percent from the school's default rate just five years before. Hendrickson-Swain continues to track borrowers — as many as 400 former students each year — up to four years after they leave school to help ensure they are repaying their loans in a timely manner. Additionally, the school has assembled a retention committee with representatives from various campus offices, including Hendrickson-Swain's, to further explore ways to encourage students to complete their work and earn their degrees.