University of Wisconsin-Madison students have an “exceptionally” low student loan default rate, according to UW-Madison Financial Aid Director Susan Fischer.
According to the U.S. Department of Education student aid office, 1.11 percent of students failed to repay their Federal Perkins Loans in 2012, the university said in a news release Tuesday.
The national average is approximately 11 percent, according to the release.
UW-Madison students’ Federal Stafford Loan default rate was also lower than the national average, the release said, with 1.1 percent failing to repay their loans for 2010-’11.
Fischer said the university has traditionally had lower student loan default rates.
She said UW-Madison students have had Stafford loan default rates lower than 1 percent in previous years, and it has not been higher than 2.9 percent since 1991.
“Our students—call it Midwest responsibility, call it whatever you want—seem to know they should repay their loans,” Fischer said.
