A recent study designed to identify early predictors of loan default disclosed the following significant findings:

• Attrition is a strong predictor of loan default.
• As the number of terms in attendance increases, the likelihood that a student will successfully repay an education loan increases.

The national cohort loan-default rates depicted in the table below are provided by the U.S. Department of Education and are updated annually. The Department also provides:

• Default rates by institution type.
• Default rates by state.
• Default rates by individual postsecondary institutions.