Lafayette resident Bianca Bowie’s decision to take out a federal student loan paved the way for her ability to embark this summer on a criminal justice degree at Ivy Tech Community College.
Bowie is one of roughly 2,500 Ivy Tech students from the Lafayette area who takes advantage of federal and private loans to pay for tuition, books and other expenses. Bowie also invested in a laptop in order to get homework done remotely.
But Bowie said she hasn’t given much thought to the idea of paying it back — at least not yet.
“I’m not really sure how that works,” she said.
Bowie is attending one of 514 colleges nationwide at which the percentage of students who default on their loans within three years is higher than the graduation rate, according to an analysis of federal U.S. Department of Education data.
More than 20 percent of Ivy Tech students across Indiana who entered loan repayment in 2009 ended up defaulting on their student loans within three years. Just four percent of Ivy Tech students graduate on time.
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