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Local college highest in loan repayment

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By Kelly Mori, Staff Writer Updated 7:19 PM Tuesday, August 31, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — A higher percentage of Cedarville University alumni are paying down their student loans than other colleges in the Miami Valley, according to a report released this month by the U.S. Department of Education.

The report was based on the 2009 rate of repayment for students who graduated or left school between 2004 and 2008. More than 8,000 university, colleges and technical schools were included.

Cedarville had an 88 percent federal loan repayment rate in 2009 which was the highest in the area. The school also ranked in the top 20 among all undergraduate colleges in the nation.

Cedarville President Bill Brown gave two possible reasons: “One, I hope we install a real since of integrity in our students... If you owe something you pay it,” he said. “Secondly, we are very aggressive in job placement for our students in their area of study... even for our alums. I think that helps a lot.”

The University of Dayton had the second highest area rate at 69 percent, followed by Wittenberg University at 68 percent. Urbana and Wright State universities showed a 48 percent repayment rate.

When it comes to community colleges, however, interpreting the numbers gets a little murky. Clark State Community College, which shows a 27 percent repayment rate, has many students who defer their loans when they move on to a four year institution, said President Karen Rafinski. The report showed those students as non-payers even though their loans would be deferred until they finished school. The area’s other community college, Sinclair, had a 38 percent repayment rate.

Rafinski said the report is possibly the first step in the new way the Department of Education plans to define default rates, which was 10.2 percent for Clark State last year. “It’s a brand new kind of report and there are always little glitches,” she said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0347 or kmori@coxohio.com.

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