What is a Loan?

A loan is money you borrow and must pay back with interest.  If you decide to borrow loans, make sure you know the terms and conditions of the loan.  It is important to understand that a loan is a legal obligation that you will be responsible for repaying with interest so you are encouraged to be a responsible borrower. 

You may receive the following types of loans while attending LU:

  1. Federal
  2. State
  3. Alternative

A loan payment calculator is available for your use to estimate how much your monthly payment may be before you decide to borrow loans. For more detailed information on types of loans and eligibility requirements please view the Financial Aid Handbook.

National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)

Please note that if you and/or your parent enter into an agreement regarding a TIV, HEA loan, the loan will submitted to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) and accessible by authorized agencies, lenders, and institutions determined to be authorized users of the data system as determined by the U.S. Department of Education.

Cohort Default Rate

The U.S. Department of Education releases official cohort default rates once per year.  A cohort default rate is the percentage of a school's borrowers who enter repayment on certain Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program or William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans during a particular federal fiscal year (FY), October 1st to September 30th, and default or meet other specified conditions prior to the end of the second following fiscal year. The FY 2018 national cohort default rate is 7.3%.  Please refer to the chart below for Lamar University’s most recent cohort default rates

OPE ID

School

Type

Control

PRGMS

 

FY2018

FY2017

FY2016

003581

LAMAR UNIVERSITY
4400 MARTIN LUTHER KING PARKWAY
BEAUMONT   TX  77710-0042

Master's Degree or Doctor's Degree

Public

Both (FFEL/FDL)

Default Rate

 4.3 

 7.6 

 6.1 

No. in Default

 194 

 335 

 261 

No. in Repay

 4419 

 4351 

 4211 

Enrollment figures

Percentage Calculation

 20864 

21.1 

 21800 

19.9 

 20570 

20.4 

Source: Federal Student Aid, https://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/defaultmanagement/cdr.html

ENROLLMENT: To provide context for the Cohort Default Rate (CDR) data we include enrollment data (students enrolled at any time during the year) and a corresponding percentage (borrowers entering repayment divided by that enrollment figure). While there is no direct relationship between the timing of when a borrower entered repayment (October 1 through September 30) and any particular enrollment year, for the purpose of these data, we have chosen to use the academic year ending on the June 30 prior to the beginning of the cohort year (e.g., FY 2018 CDR Year will use 2016-2017 enrollment).

The Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group

The Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group is a resource available to help with unresolved disputes related to federal student loans.  Before contacting the Ombudsman Group, you should try to resolve problems with your student loan yourself. Contact information for FSA Student Loan Ombudsman is listed below:

Online assistance: http://studentaid.gov/repay-loans/disputes/prepare

Telephone: 877-557-2575

Fax: 606-396-4821

FSA Ombudsman Group
P.O. Box 1843
Monticello, KY 42633