Student Loan Delinquencies

The U.S. Secretary of Education has announced that the national student loan default rate was 5.9 percent for fiscal year 2000, a "historically low" level. This was well below the 22.4 percent default rate in fiscal 1990 and only slightly above the historical low of 5.6 percent in fiscal year 1999. The Secretary of Education, Ron Paige, also credited the ongoing efforts of colleges and universities to increase borrowers' awareness of flexible payment options that help borrowers avoid default.