Schools Ranked by Default Rate

Default rates measure the percentage of students who fail to repay their federal student loans. A lower default rate indicates that students are finding an adequate means of income after leaving the school because they can afford to pay back their student loans. In addition, lower default rates also indicate a lower amount of student debt. For each school, we looked at the cohort default rates published by the College Navigator database for the 2009 fiscal year.

College Navigator did not have the default rate for all of the colleges on our list. We did not, however, want to penalize those colleges without data. To that end, we simply excluded those schools from the rankings in this category.

Rank School FT to PT
Faculty Ratio		 Institution
Fin. Aid Rate		 Acceptance Rate Retention Rate Graduation Rate Accred.
Years		 Default
Rate		 Job Place. Rate  
1 Aspen University 0.00 to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 19 0% N/A  
1 Atlanta Technical College 0.34 to 1 0% N/A N/A 31% 41 0% N/A  
1 Bladen Community College 0.60 to 1 9% N/A 52% 20% 36 0% N/A  
1 Central Carolina Community College 0.37 to 1 0% N/A N/A 39% 40 0% N/A  
1 Central Virginia Community College 0.22 to 1 2% N/A 54% 20% 43 0% N/A  
1 Centralia College 0.59 to 1 21% N/A 53% 34% 64 0% N/A  
1 College of the Mainland 0.74 to 1 18% N/A 50% 7% 43 0% N/A  
1 Denver School of Nursing 0.24 to 1 0% 70% 86% N/A 4 0% N/A  
1 Georgia Northwestern Technical College 0.50 to 1 2% N/A N/A 29% 40 0% N/A  
1 Haywood Community College 0.61 to 1 3% N/A 69% 23% 39 0% N/A  
1 Kaskaskia College 0.49 to 1 25% N/A 61% 42% 43 0% N/A  
1 Lanier Technical College 0.46 to 1 0% N/A 50% 40% 40 0% N/A  
1 Lively Technical Center 4.00 to 1 0% N/A 52% 32% 35 0% N/A  
1 Lord Fairfax Community College 0.18 to 1 10% N/A 65% 26% 40 0% N/A  
1 Los Angeles Trade Technical College 0.71 to 1 0% N/A 60% 16% 60 0% N/A  
1 Moultrie Technical College 0.42 to 1 1% N/A 52% 36% 38 0% N/A  
1 National Labor College 0.12 to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 8 0% N/A  
1 New England College of Business and Finance 0.09 to 1 50% N/A 100% N/A 6 0% N/A  
1 Northeastern Technical College 0.42 to 1 7% N/A 58% 14% 39 0% N/A  
1 Pinellas Technical Education Center-Clearwater 0.94 to 1 0% N/A 73% 97% 42 0% N/A  
1 Rappahannock Community College 0.14 to 1 17% N/A 60% 24% 39 0% N/A  
1 Robeson Community College 0.38 to 1 1% N/A 70% 44% 37 0% N/A  
1 Southside Virginia Community College 0.30 to 1 13% N/A 64% 26% 40 0% N/A  
1 Southwest Tennessee Community College 0.43 to 1 7% 100% 46% 5% 12 0% N/A  
1 Stanly Community College 0.43 to 1 6% N/A 62% 33% 33 0% N/A  
1 United Tribes Technical College 21.33 to 1 24% N/A N/A N/A 30 0% N/A  
1 Vance-Granville Community College 0.57 to 1 23% N/A 66% 23% 35 0% N/A  
28 Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science 3.25 to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 32 0% N/A  
29 Western University of Health Sciences 6.62 to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 16 1% N/A  
30 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 6.25 to 1 46% 34% 97% 89% 112 1% N/A  
31 Duke University 43.36 to 1 47% 16% 97% 94% 117 1% N/A  
31 Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences 69.67 to 1 75% 80% 82% 69% 38 1% N/A  
33 Georgetown University 1.66 to 1 49% 20% 96% 94% 91 1% N/A  
34 Johns Hopkins University 12.45 to 1 51% 19% 96% 91% 91 1% N/A  
34 Oregon Health & Science University 1.70 to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 32 1% N/A  
34 University of Wisconsin-Madison 3.13 to 1 40% 66% 94% 82% 99 1% N/A  
37 Bethel Seminary of the East 0.16 to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 12 2% N/A  
37 George Washington University 0.89 to 1 71% 32% 94% 81% 90 2% N/A  
37 Quinnipiac University 0.60 to 1 84% 63% 87% 77% 54 2% N/A  
40 Marist College 0.66 to 1 75% 34% 92% 80% 48 2% N/A  
40 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 4.36 to 1 47% 41% 96% 90% 99 2% N/A  
42 Cedarville University 2.21 to 1 77% 75% 85% 68% 37 2% N/A  
42 University of Maryland-Baltimore 2.66 to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 91 2% N/A  
44 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 6.98 to 1 38% 67% 91% 82% 89 2% N/A  
45 The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 39 2% N/A  
46 Franciscan University of Steubenville 1.16 to 1 86% 76% 84% 71% 52 2% N/A  
46 Thunderbird School of Global Management 2.24 to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 43 2% N/A  
46 University of the Sciences 1.80 to 1 100% 64% 83% 65% 50 2% N/A  
46 University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 4.24 to 1 16% 78% 85% 68% 84 2% N/A  
50 Duquesne University 0.97 to 1 100% 70% 87% 76% 77 2% N/A  
50 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 4.17 to 1 37% 76% 84% 65% 62 2% N/A  
52 Brigham Young University-Idaho 1.42 to 1 32% 99% 73% 61% 76 2% N/A  
52 Linfield College-Nursing & Health Sciences 0.61 to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 8 2% N/A  
52 Pepperdine University 1.25 to 1 71% 32% 93% 81% 63 2% N/A  
52 Seattle Pacific University 1.25 to 1 96% 70% 85% 74% 79 2% 90%  
52 Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center 12.03 to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 8 2% N/A  
52 University of Dayton 2.37 to 1 98% 75% 86% 74% 84 2% N/A  
58 Columbia International University 4.88 to 1 90% 67% 82% 58% 64 3% N/A  
58 Edgewood College 0.73 to 1 94% 72% 80% 51% 54 3% N/A  
58 George Fox University 0.94 to 1 94% 80% 80% 62% 53 3% N/A  
58 Trident University International 0.17 to 1 0% N/A 19% 72% 7 3% N/A  
58 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2.30 to 1 40% 68% 93% 82% 99 3% N/A  
58 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities 3.39 to 1 59% 47% 90% 70% 99 3% N/A  
58 University of Scranton 1.75 to 1 91% 72% 88% 77% 85 3% N/A  
58 University of Southern California 1.96 to 1 61% 23% 97% 90% 63 3% N/A  
66 George Mason University 1.23 to 1 17% 53% 87% 64% 40 3% N/A  
66 University of Utah 5.73 to 1 35% 83% 87% 55% 79 3% N/A  
68 Saint Joseph's College of Maine 0.45 to 1 100% 88% 75% 55% 51 3% N/A  
69 Adler School of Professional Psychology 23.50 to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 34 3% N/A  
69 Biola University 1.24 to 1 94% 77% 86% 71% 51 3% N/A  
69 California Lutheran University 0.77 to 1 97% 44% 85% 64% 50 3% N/A  
69 Erikson Institute 0.49 to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 12 3% N/A  
69 Purdue University-Main Campus 6.26 to 1 43% 68% 90% 68% 99 3% N/A  
69 Rivier College 18.25 to 1 98% 81% 78% 37% 64 3% N/A  
69 University of Delaware 27.59 to 1 36% 61% 93% 76% 91 3% N/A  
69 University of St Francis 0.46 to 1 100% 44% 79% 63% 74 3% N/A  
69 Worcester Polytechnic Institute 3.00 to 1 98% 57% 95% 76% 75 3% N/A  
78 Champlain College 0.47 to 1 84% 85% 76% 62% 40 3% 83%  
78 Goucher College 1.72 to 1 77% 73% 81% 70% 91 3% N/A  
78 The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Chicago 0.33 to 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 28 3% N/A  
81 Chatham University 0.46 to 1 100% 62% 70% 60% 88 3% 68%  
81 Dordt College 1.70 to 1 100% 80% 81% 66% 43 3% N/A  
81 Lenoir Community College 0.38 to 1 9% N/A 44% 15% 44 3% N/A  
81 Towson University 1.01 to 1 37% 54% 84% 64% 63 3% N/A  
81 University of Florida 5.01 to 1 32% 43% 95% 84% 99 3% N/A  
81 University of South Carolina-Columbia 2.62 to 1 58% 70% 87% 70% 95 3% N/A  
87 Colorado State University-Fort Collins 2.78 to 1 42% 76% 83% 64% 87 3% N/A  
87 Grand Valley State University 1.89 to 1 63% 83% 82% 63% 44 3% N/A  
87 John Brown University 0.64 to 1 96% 73% 78% 66% 50 3% N/A  
87 Michigan Technological University 4.41 to 1 92% 74% 83% 65% 84 3% N/A  
91 Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing 5.43 to 1 N/A N/A N/A 100% 17 3% N/A  
91 East Carolina University 4.98 to 1 39% 70% 81% 59% 85 3% 100%  
91 Maryville University of Saint Louis 0.37 to 1 96% 67% 82% 68% 71 3% N/A  
91 North Carolina State University at Raleigh 5.12 to 1 45% 54% 89% 72% 84 3% N/A  
91 University of Georgia 4.84 to 1 20% 59% 94% 84% 103 3% N/A  
96 DeSales University 0.49 to 1 98% 73% 81% 69% 42 3% N/A  
96 Endicott College 0.49 to 1 85% 59% 88% 67% 60 3% N/A  
96 University of New England 1.28 to 1 100% 82% 75% 58% 46 3% N/A  
99 Baldwin-Wallace College 0.83 to 1 99% 63% 81% 70% 99 3% N/A  
99 Cabarrus College of Health Sciences 3.63 to 1 19% 68% 69% 71% 17 3% N/A  

Methodology

For each college, we gathered data for nine different metrics: the number of full-time faculty per part-time faculty member; institutional financial aid, acceptance, retention, graduation, job placement, and default rates; years accredited; and undergraduate tuition. Learn more