News

President Obama’s recent student loan plan impacts both state and private college students and according to CIA’s Director of Financial Aid, Martin Carney current junior and senior CIA students will experience the plan’s benefits as early as this year.

“Even though CIA graduates have consistently ranked as having one of the lowest default rates in the nation, the Obama plan will provide tools to this year’s graduating students that will help with student loan management,” said Carney. CIA’s student default rate is 4.9 percent, which is well below the national average of 7.4 percent.

In response to rising student debt and bleak economic conditions, President Obama recently accelerated the passage of a law that will provide eligible students the opportunity to reduce their loan payments and consolidate their loans.

CIA continues to find ways to reduce the overall student debt load with comprehensive measures that have resulted in:

• Private loan debt assumed by students in the 2010-11 academic year is down 10% from the previous year.
• Overall debt per student is down 7%.
• First-year student private loan debt is down 12%.

With 98% of our students receiving financial aid, CIA awards more than $7 million in scholarships and grants annually: an astounding number for a student body of around 500.