As tuition rises and the economy falls, college students are having an increasingly difficult time paying for their education.

Larry D. Ridgeway, vice chancellor for student affairs, said that the University is seeing an increase in students defaulting on their loans, but added that Mississippi students were defaulting less than the national average among students.

According to statistics released by the University, the default repayment rate of Mississippi students in 2008 was 4.9 percent, while the national average of students defaulting was 7 percent. In 2009, the default average in Mississippi rose to 6.1 percent, and although the national average is unknown for 2009, it is expected to continually rise.

“We have always been well below the national average,” Ridgeway said. “Ole Miss students have always been able to pay, and hopefully we educate them enough to be able to get a good job.”

Ridgeway said students who graduate from a public university typically have less trouble repaying their loans.

“For-profit universities, such as online colleges, have lower graduation and retention rates because they sell education on the idea of going back to college,” Ridgeway said.

Steven Bennett, financial aid adviser for the Desoto, Grenada and Oxford campuses of the University of Mississippi, said the Oxford campus has better graduation and retention rates than the University’s satellite campuses.

Dewey Knight, associate director for the office of financial aid, said students attending for-profit and satellite campuses often have higher default rates on their bonds.

“The reason default rates are higher at the for-profit universities and branched campuses is because they don’t feel like they received anything out of their education, so they have less of an incentive to pay it back,” Knight said.

The government provides federal money in the form of student loans – the repayment of which can be deferred until after graduation.

The interest on a subsidized loan is paid by the federal government, but an unsubsidized loan requires the student to pay the full amount, plus interest. For many graduates, the debt acquired in college cannot be repaid, and defaulting is their only way out.

The Chronicle of Higher Education explains that the fundamental problem is the growing number of people borrowing too much to invest in a college education that, for them, will yield a rate of return that is too low to service the debt load they have accumulated.

Bennett said that Mississippi has created programs like the Public Service Forgiveness and MTAG to help students avoid defaulting.

Knight said on top of what Mississippi does, the University works with students to attempt to combat defaulting on bonds.

“We know everything about every student who takes a student loan: personal background, major, financial situation, etc.,” Knight said. “We analyze the patterns and trends to predict the students who will default so we can put in more effort for those situations.”

When it comes to defaulting on bonds, not all degrees are created equal, Knight said.

“The degrees with the highest number of default loans are criminal justice majors and law students,” Knight said.

“We see a high drop-out rate for criminal justice students and a decrease in the amount of law students who are hired by firms.”

Kevin Cronin, editor of the Law Review at the University of Alabama, said that for those seeking a law degree, it is important to stand out.

“The competition for law students nationwide is increasingly difficult and now depends heavily on work experience and valuable connections,” Cronin said.

Knight said students intending to graduate should not be afraid to take loans, however.

“The more you owe, the less likely you are to default,” Knight said.

“This is due to the fact that graduates with higher education degrees are more applicable for higher paying jobs.

“Higher education is the key to a global economy, and if we do not invest in that we won’t compete.”