Delinquency and charge-off rates for private student loans are improving, and are the lowest since before the 2008 financial crisis, according to research released Friday by MeasureOne, a data and analytics firm.
Private student loans are credit-based loans underwritten by lenders who assess ability to repay, among other factors, before deciding to lend.
The delinquency rate for private student loans stood at 4.4% at the end of the first quarter, according to MeasureOne.
The rate for private loans 30 to 89 days past due was 2.5% of total loans in repayment at the end of the first quarter, a year-over-year decline of 9%.
The delinquency rate for private loans 90 days or more past due fell by 16.8% year over year, and stood at 1.9% of total loans in repayment.
By comparison, 11% of all public and private student loans, excluding those in deferment or forbearance, were delinquent 90 days or longer at the end of the quarter, according to Morningstar, which reported that student loan debt is the only kind of household debt that has inreased since the financial crisis.
The report on private loans was based on data from the MeasureOne private student loan consortium, a data cooperative of lenders and holders of private student loans comprising the six biggest student loan lenders and holders. These represent some two-thirds of U.S. private academic lending activity, about $67.3 billion.
Overall, private student loans make up about 7.5% of total student loans outstanding — approximately $102 billion, according to MeasureOne. The remaining 92.5% of the $1.4 trillion in total student loans are federal loans.
The new report focused exclusively on school-certified loans, MeasureOne said. It did not include consolidation loans, whereby borrowers no longer attending school seek to combine education loans into a singled education debt obligation.
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