COOKEVILLE – According to Student Loan Report (studentloans.net), Tennessee Tech is one of the best schools in the nation when it comes to successful student loan repayments.

The Cookeville university ranks 16th in the nation and first in Tennessee among public universities in a Student Debt Repayment Success Indicator (SDRSI) study. When private schools were considered, Tech placed 34th overall and second in the state

Tennessee Tech Director of Financial Aid Lester McKenzie discusses financial aid and student loan options with Haley Kramer.

“This study reflects accurately the students that choose to attend our institution and the importance our office devotes to indebtedness,” Lester McKenzie, Tech director of financial aid, said. “This doesn’t just cast a positive light on the financial aid office, but the admissions office for getting the right fit students, the faculty and staff for their devotion to the holistic student and many other offices such as career services, disability services, records, and the bursar’s office.”

The SDRSI study factored in the average student loan debt per borrower, the average early career pay and the default rate.

“The metrics it uses are good parameters for establishing a threshold that combines not only the student debt load, used by many other surveys and rankings, but also the beginning pay of graduates and our default rate,” McKenzie said. “Use of these three indicators gives students who are making a decision whether to attend, or even more implicitly whether to borrow federal loan dollars.”

The study showed Tech’s early career pay at $53,800 with the debt per borrower at $19,363 and the default rate at 6.17 percent for an SDRSI rating of 2.61.

For more information on the study, visit https://studentloans.net/student-debt-repayment-success-indicator-2017/#overall.

State Rank School Name School Type Early Career Pay Debt Per Borrower Default Rate SDRSI Overall Rank
1 Vanderbilt University Private $57,900 $21,506 1.24% 2.66 31
2 Tennessee Technological University Public $53,800 $19,363 6.17% 2.61 34
3 University of Tennessee Public $46,500 $24,272 4.80% 1.82 163
4 University of Tennessee – Chattanooga Public $40,900 $23,009 7.34% 1.65 241
5 Christian Brothers University Private $47,800 $27,892 7.24% 1.59 270
6 University of Memphis Public $44,500 $25,947 8.98% 1.56 291
7 Rhodes College Private $44,200 $28,008 2.15% 1.54 300
8 Middle Tennessee State University Public $42,100 $25,352 9.62% 1.50 326
9 King University Private $35,300 $22,607 7.75% 1.44 379
10 Belmont University Private $40,800 $28,477 2.08% 1.40 408
11 Trevecca Nazarene University Private $44,800 $30,667 4.38% 1.40 414
12 Austin Peay State University Public $39,200 $25,495 12.25% 1.35 466
13 Lipscomb University Private $42,000 $30,658 2.65% 1.33 483
14 Union University Private $42,200 $31,784 3.56% 1.28 525
15 East Tennessee State University Public $40,100 $27,866 11.17% 1.28 529
16 University of Tennessee – Martin Public $40,100 $28,701 10.02% 1.26 548
17 Southern Adventist University Private $43,600 $33,320 5.29% 1.24 566
18 LeMoyne-Owen College Private $38,200 $27,441 19.54% 1.12 659
19 Tennessee State University Public $43,600 $35,214 12.76% 1.08 678
20 Tusculum College Private $36,000 $31,806 10.40% 1.01 704

 

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