Just when you thought Sallie Mae was tough, some universities are now showing who’s tougher. Bloomberg is reporting that George Washington University, Temple University, Yale University, and the University of Pennsylvania have all filed lawsuits against students who defaulted on their Perkins loan repayments.

Unlike its loan counterparts, Stafford or direct federal student loans, which are distributed by the government, Perkins loans are administered by the colleges themselves. According to the Bloomberg report, during the 2011 fiscal year the Perkins defaults have skyrocketed to $964 million.