Revisions made:
- Fixed ‘percentage point’ errors
- Added state average repayment rate for males, females, and overall
- Removed ZIP from tooltip, changed to a more identifiable tooltip label ‘% Point Gap M/F’
- Changed coloration
- Identified that the map only shows the top ten disparities in AR
Women at religious colleges in Arkansas were less likely to have begun repaying their loans five years after graduation than their male counterparts, according to federal student loan data.
From 51 Arkansas colleges that reported loan repayment rates after five years, three out of the top five colleges where men were more likely to repay their loans than women had religious ties, according to College Scorecard data.
The College Scorecard is a database compiled by the U.S. Department of Education that records data about universities, including the percentage of students that had paid at least $1 on their student loans after five years.
Williams Baptist College had the largest disparity between male and female repayment rates, with a 15 percentage point gap between male graduates and female graduates, according to College Scorecard.
At Williams Baptist College, 71 percent of male graduates began making payments on their student loans within five years or taking them out, compared to 56 percent of female students in that same time.
In Arkansas, the average repayment rate for male graduates after five years is 45.5 percent and the average for female graduates is 46.5 percent, according to College scorecard. The overall average repayment rate is 46 percent.
The Financial Aid department at Williams Baptist College does not report loan repayment info to the Department of Education, said Barbara Turner, director of Financial Aid.
“Once the students leave us we don’t track their information anymore,” Turner said.
Turner is not required to report male and female debt statistics separately in her federal report, she said.
“We usually only report average loan debt to the Department of Education,” Turner said.
Turner thinks that the College Scorecard got their information on student debt repayment form the companies that issued the loans, she said.
Williams Baptist College is owned and operated by the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, according to the Williams Baptist College website.
At Central Baptist College, the university with the second highest gap between the genders, there was a 14 percentage point difference between each gender’s repayment rate after five years, according to College Scorecard.
Just under 70 percent of male students had begun repaying their loans while 56 percent of females had.
The director of Financial Aid at Central Baptist College was not available for comment.
Central Baptist College is owned and operated by the Baptist Missionary Association of Arkansas, according to the Central Baptist College website.
Baptist Health College rounded out the top five highest disparities, with an approximately 6 percentage point difference between male graduates repaying their loans and female graduates.
At Baptist Health, just under 64 percent of female graduates have begun repaying their loans after five years, compared to just over 70 percent of male graduates, according to College Scorecard.
Natalie Martin, Financial Aid Director at Baptist Health College, did not provide a comment after an initial phone conversation.
Baptist Health College places an emphasis on Christian values, according to a statement from Chancellor Judy Ingram Pile found on the Baptist Health College website.
John Brown University, a private Christian university, was ranked sixth highest for repayment gender disparity, with a five percentage point difference between male and female graduates, according to College Scorecard.
At John Brown University, nearly 82 percent of male graduates had made payments on their loans after five years, compared to 76.5 percent of female graduates.
Gina Pace, assistant director of Financial Aid and Student Loan Specialist at John Brown University, does not think that the school tracks loan repayment data for students, she said.
Graduating students take an online course provided by the Department of Education that offers some counseling on loan repayment, as well as meeting with a financial aid official from JBU their last year, Pace said.
“Before the students leave campus, we do a meeting with on-campus undergrads and talk about repayment,” Pace said. “We encourage them to pay off their loans in two years or less, if they possibly can.”
Pace thinks that most students should be able to repay their loans in two years or less, she said.
“I know we’ve had a pretty good success rate,” Pace said.
The average female student at JBU graduates with $18,650 of loan debt, while the average male graduates with slightly more, $18,750, according to College Scorecard.
Graduates would have to pay approximately $777 each month to pay off their loans within two years.
Contacts:
Barbara Turner, director of Financial Aid at Williams Baptist University
870-759-4112, bturner@wbcoll.edu
Natalie Martin, Financial Aid Director, Baptist Health College Little Rock
501-202-7486, 501-202-7457, financialaid@bhclr.edu (no direct email available)
– Called, talked for a moment, asked to call me back, never returned my call.
Gina Pace, assistant director of Financial Aid and Student Loan Specialist at John Brown University
479-524-7162, GPace@jbu.edu
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