The relationship between academic trajectories and loan default is complicated,
although at least two clear linkages emerge. First, students who take longer to get through school often incur more debt. Harrast (2004) found that average
debt load increased $418 per each semester a student is enrolled beyond the first
year and that the median debt load of a student who takes five or more years to
graduate is 58 percent higher than that of a student who graduates in four years
or less. Second, as discussed in more detail in the next section, common
markers of lower levels of academic enrollment and intensity