The impending change in the FFEL/Direct Loan cohort default rate (CDR) from a two-year rate to a three-year rate will mean most schools will see an increase in their CDR. Next Monday, ED will post an Electronic Announcement on the IFAP Web site that will explain the changes to FFEL/Direct Loan CDRs and will contain a link to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Web site where each school can view what its current CDR would be if it were calculated as a three-year rate. Only the school will be able to view its three-year rate on NSLDS.

This three-year rate will be for informational purposes only. No sanctions will be imposed based on this three-year CDR. (ED won't stop calculating and publishing two-year rates as the official CDR until after 2013.) ED will post these preliminary three-year rates for all schools to an ED public Web site on Dec. 14. To avoid any confusion with the current, official two-year rates, ED will not post the sample three-year CDR to the site used for posting official CDRs. Instead, the public posting will be to a different public ED site, which will be identified in the Dec. 7 Electronic Announcement.

Posted 12/04/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.