According to Ken Miller at The Century Foundation, volumes decreased 10 percent at public colleges, 18 percent at for-profit colleges, and 20 percent at private non-profit colleges.
And according to Mark Kantrowitz, new student loan volumes were down 42 percent.
Student loan volumes were especially low at subprime schools University of Phoenix (-48%), Walden University (-48%), Ashford University (-56%), and Colorado Tech (-43%) and state flagship universities, University of Washington (-95%), Ohio State (-68%), Penn State (-51%), Temple University (-47%), and University of Texas-Austin (-41%).
Elite private universities Columbia University (-87%), Boston University (-55%) and Georgetown (-39%) also saw big losses in student loan volume.
While schools with large endowments will be able to cover these dramatic losses, those with less in alternative revenue streams and endowments will have to make tough decisions, in many cases cutting costs through layoffs in 2021.
Numbers for the 4th quarter, posted in November after the election, could be even worse, at least in absolute terms. The loss of these funds may not only hurt colleges and their employees, but also college towns. Federal student loan fiscal year numbers will also be reported in November.
In late December 2020, the National Student Clearinghouse will post national enrollment numbers which may parallel declining student loan volumes. The greatest income losses, however, may come from losses from room and board revenues.
Related Links: