For the past several years, about 40% of all graduating seniors have left the University with no educational debt.
	Among those who graduate with debt, the average in 2006 was $20,234, which was below the state average of $24,990.
	The most recent default rate for UI students who are in repayment on their federal loans is 1.8%.

UI President Sally Mason takes seriously the issue of college student debt. The copy below
highlights key points from an editorial Mason wrote in December for area newspapers.

Providing affordable and accessible higher education for every qualified Iowan is an integral part of The University of Iowa’s mission. The evidence demonstrating our success is good (see sidebar).

Feeding these figures are several factors:

First, the University has no exclusive agreements with any private loan providers, nor do  we include private loans as part of financial aid packages offered to students. Our Office  of Student Financial Aid discourages students from private-loan borrowing, and attempts  to make sure that students and parents exhaust all options by borrowing through federal  government-supported student and parent loans, if needed.

Secondly, although minimal grant money is available to UI students through the State  of Iowa, the University has a 35-year history of allocating a significant percent of tuition  revenue to support grants and scholarships. More than $47.5 million (about 19 percent  of projected tuition revenue) has been set aside to support such grants and scholarships  during the 2007–08 academic year.
Finally, grants and scholarships are the first priority of our financial-aid packages.

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