The U.S. Department of Education releases official cohort default rates once per year. 听A cohort default rate is the percentage of a school's borrowers who enter repayment on certain William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans during a particular federal fiscal year (FY), October 1 to September 30, and default or meet other specified conditions prior to the end of the second following fiscal year.
听
CU Boulder Three-Year Cohort Default Rate
| Fiscal Year |
Cohort Default Rate |
| 2020 |
0.0% |
| 2019 |
1.1% |
| 2018 |
2.4% |
| 2017 |
3.0% |
| 2016 |
3.2% |
| 2015 |
3.1% |
| 2014 |
3.1% |
Note: The 2020 rate is 0.0% due to suspension of loan payment requirements during the national COVID-19 emergency.听 This also affected FY 2019 and FY 2018 rates since these cohorts were still in their respective 3-year default rate windows when payment requirements were suspended in March, 2020.
National and Local Comparison
| Fiscal Year |
2020 |
2019 |
2018 |
2017 |
2016 |
2015 |
2014 |
| National |
0.0% |
2.3% |
7.9% |
9.7% |
10.1% |
10.8% |
11.5% |
| National four year public |
0.0% |
1.8% |
5.4% |
7.1% |
6.8% |
7.1% |
7.5% |
| Colorado |
0.0% |
2.4% |
6.3% |
9.4% |
10.8% |
11.6% |
11.3% |
| CU Boulder |
0.0% |
1.1% |
2.4% |
3.0% |
3.2% |
3.1% |
3.1% |
Detailed reports
- FY 2020听3-year cohort (PDF)听
- FY 2019听3-year cohort (PDF)听
- CU听Boulder default rates over time听(Excel)听- shows official and preliminary rates for each cohort. Updated with official rates in Sept. or October (e.g., Sept 2015, official FY2012 rates released).
- Please refer to the Cohort Default Rate Guide for a more in-depth description of cohort default rates, how the rates are calculated听and more information on default rates by state and institution type on the US Department of Education .
