Financial Aid & Loans

Before offering, recommending, arranging, signing-up, dispersing, or enrolling Service members for private student loans, Service members may work with a counselor in the Office of Student Financial Aid at UMaine; this financial aid advisor will be able to offer individual loan counseling, including, but not limited to:

  1. Providing a clear and complete explanation of available financial aid, including Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.
  2. Describing the differences between private and federal student loans to include terms, conditions, repayment and forgiveness options.
  3. Disclosing the institution’s student loan Cohort Default Rate (CDR), the percentage of its students who borrow, and how its CDR compares to the national average. If the educational institution’s CDR is greater than the national average CDR, it must disclose that information and provide the student with loan repayment data. Student may review this information at College Navigator, a government site where schools report student financial data.
  4. Explaining that students have the ability to refuse all or borrow less than the maximum student loan amount allowed.

For more information about student loan counseling at UMaine, review policies for financial aid disclosure or email Jessica Hickernell, Director of Compliance and Training for Financial Aid.

Student Loan Cohort Default Rate (CDR)

The university will disclose the Cohort Default (CDR) rate in the event the CDR rises above the national average. CDR information is available on the Financial Aid website available here: https://umaine.edu/stuaid/types-of-aid/loans/

The most recent three-year Official CDR available are presented in the table below:

Fiscal Year202020192018
Default rate0.1%1.7%4.0%
Number in default346105
Number in repayment2,6032,6492,592