Default rates for traditional microfinance are often extremely low, often as low as 1%-2%, due to a variety of reasons like group guarantees. With younger clients and longer loan terms, education microloans are expected to have higher default rates than traditional microfinance. In addition, default rates are also expected to be higher for extremely poor clients who are typically excluded from traditional microfinance. We try to balance our goal of reaching high-need students with our desire to maximize repayment rates.

We will gather data from the field and publish it on our website over time to help you evaluate default rates for various regions and field partners.