The failure of students to repay federally insured loans has led to an increased emphasis on default prevention and threatens institutions with high default rates with exclusion from federal student aid programs. Prior studies of default prevention using theoretical constructs based on economics, sociology, and psychology have yielded mixed…

A study of 180 defaulters and 907 nondefaulters on federal loans at a private 2-year college found that withdrawal from college, gender, race, age, high school rank, and college grades were significantly correlated with default status. Division choice, borrowing characteristics, and reasons for leaving college did not correlate with default…