ED Releases Updated Data on Nonpayment Rates by Institution, Warns of High Cohort Default Rates
Maria Carrasco
February 19, 2026
The Department of Education (ED) on Wednesday released updated data on institutions’ nonpayment rates, warning that schools could be at risk of losing access to federal student assistance due to potentially high cohort default rates (CDR).
ED first released data on institutions’ nonpayment rates in July last year, as part of an effort to provide institutions with a resource to better understand the delinquency and default risks associated with their most recent borrowers. An institution’s nonpayment rate is the percentage of Direct Loan borrowers who entered repayment since January 2020 and whose federal student loans were more than 90 days delinquent at the time the data were collected, in May 2025.
On Wednesday, ED released updated data on institutions’ nonpayment rates, finding that over 1,800 institutions have nonpayment rates at or exceeding 25%.
