
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 23, 1994                   TAG: 9408250036
SECTION: WELCOME STUDENTS                    PAGE: 20   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

NEW STUDENT LOAN PROGRAM TO START NEXT YEAR AT TECH

Virginia Tech has been chosen to participate in the Federal Direct Student Loan Program beginning the 1995-96 academic year. Tech is one of 983 schools announced by U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley to be among the first to participate in a new, streamlined system to restructure the nation's loan programs.

Riley said these schools will have an opportunity to demonstrate that direct lending can indeed simplify the administrative tasks of educational institutions, reduce costs to taxpayers and provide better services to students.

Under the program, the federal government provides loans directly to students through the school. The default rate is one of the more critically reviewed criteria for participation in the Federal Direct Student Loan Program. Although the requirements specify a default rate of less than 25 percent, Tech students have maintained a much lower rate. In fiscal 1990-91, Tech's default rate was at two percent, and has consistently remained around that over the past few years.

-New River Valley bureau

by CNB