In the current age of the internet, where information is very easy to acquire, people have started questioning the risk of investing in college and not finding a job.
One would expect to find a decent paying job based on the finances and time spent on it.
It is reasonable to say that one would expect higher education to be a low-risk investment where you learn skills additional to the ones required in the professional world.
And with the help of these skills, it should be easy to find jobs and retain them.
Well, there is good news for ULM students.
According to the College Board, ULM’s student debt for the class of 2017 has been lower than the state and the national average. Also, the ULM percentage of student loan default in the first three years is the lowest in the University of Louisiana System and below the national average.
For the ULM class of 2017, the average undergraduate student loan total was $24,536. The state average was $26,808 and the national average was $26,900.
Further, the National Center for Education Statistics monitors student loan default using the “3-year Cohort Default Rates.” This measurement tracks student loan repayment for three years by students who left school – for any reason, including graduation – in a fiscal year.
Their statistic showed that ULM’s 2015 Cohort Default Rate of 5.5 percent whereas the national average is 7.1 percent and the University of Louisiana system is 11.1 percent.
ULM’s rate is half of the UL system’s average rate. This fortifies ULM being one of the most affordable universities in the area and brings relief to the current student as they can focus better on studies and not worry about loan repayments.