Student-Loan Default Rates Drop Again in Latest Data, U.S. Says

The percentage of borrowers who defaulted on their student loans in the past three years has dropped again, from 13.7 percent in last year’s measurement to 11.8 percent this year. According to new data released on Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Education, the default rate for students who began repayment between October 1, 2011, and September 30, 2012, dropped among all sectors of higher education.

Here’s a breakdown, courtesy of the department:

This is the second year colleges can face penalties for high default rates under an expanded three-year window. According to the department’s database, these institutions can lose their eligibility to receive Title IV student loans:

Among those colleges, two are public, one is private nonprofit, and the rest are private for-profits.

Last year’s data release caused confusion among higher-education observers about what accounted for the drop. The department said then it was “adjusting” the rates of some institutions that would otherwise have been penalized under the new standard.

For more, see this Chronicle article.