cohort default rate
(1) (A) The term “cohort default rate” means, for any award year in which 30 or more current and former students at the institution enter repayment on loans under this part (received for attendance at the institution), the percentage of those current and former students who enter repayment on such loans (received for attendance at that institution) in that award year who default before the end of the following award year. (B) For any award year in which less than 30 of the institution’s current and former students enter repayment, the term “cohort default rate” means the percentage of such current and former students who entered repayment on such loans in any of the three most recent award years and who default before the end of the award year immediately following the year in which they entered repayment. (C) A loan on which a payment is made by the institution of higher education, its owner, agency, contractor, employee, or any other entity or individual affiliated with such institution, in order to avoid default by the borrower, is considered as in default for the purposes of this subsection. (D) In the case of a student who has attended and borrowed at more than one school, the student (and his or her subsequent repayment or default) is attributed to the school for attendance at which the student received the loan that entered repayment in the award year. (E) In determining the number of students who default before the end of such award year, the institution, in calculating the cohort default rate, shall exclude— (i) any loan on which the borrower has, after the time periods specified in paragraph (2)— (I) voluntarily made 6 consecutive payments; (II) voluntarily made all payments currently due; (III) repaid in full the amount due on the loan; or (IV) received a deferment or forbearance, based on a condition that began prior to such time periods; (ii) any loan which has, after the time periods specified in paragraph (2), been rehabilitated or canceled; and (iii) any other loan that the Secretary determines should be excluded from such determination. (F) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations designed to prevent an institution from evading the application to that institution of a cohort default rate determination under this subsection through the use of such measures as branching, consolidation, change of ownership or control or other means as determined by the Secretary.