their loans after the three-year period monitored in the cohort default rate. The cohort default rate has also become less effective at holding schools accountable now that many borrowers repay their loans through an income-driven repayment plan. These plans make monthly payments more affordable for low-income borrowers, which helps borrowers but makes default a less effective proxy for school outcomes. The cohort default rate became even less effective when student loan payments were paused for almost all federal borrowers because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, only a handful of schools have cohort default rates high enough to warrant sanctions each year. In 2016, only 10 schools had a CDR high enough for sanctions, out of over 4,000 schools that are subject to the CDR rules. Eight of these schools were able to successfully appeal the sanctions, so only 2 schools faced consequences. Today, many research organizations and student loan experts think that the CDR needs to be supplemented with an accountability system that is better able to hold schools accountable for poor student outcomes. Changes Changes have been made to address certain criticisms. In 1998, the United States Congress decided to extend the amount of time (from 180 to 270 days) before loans were considered to be in default. Additionally, it takes the government 90 days to pay the insurance claim. That means it takes roughly a full year for a loan to be considered in default, and that's not including the 6-month grace period before repayment begins. Then, starting in 2005, Congress began advising colleges to compare the ED's cohort default rates for their schools with their own records in order to ensure consistency. Schools that find inconsistencies between cohort-default-rate data and their own can challenge the ED's findings. Default Prevention Initiatives Several new initiatives have arisen to combat high student loan default rates, including an outreach effort by the Department of Education to borrowers struggling to repay their loans. See also Student loan default in the United States Voluntary Flexible Agreement References Further reading "New Default Rate Data for Federal Student Loans: 44% of Defaulters Attended For-Profit Institutions", The Pew Charitable Trusts, Project on Student Debt, Berkeley, California, December 15, 2009 "College, Inc.", PBS FRONTLINE documentary, May 4, 2010 Student loans in the United States