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Blog: Less Students Defaulting On School Loans

By Jim Donovan: I've got some good news to share today with regards to school loans. The Education Department on Wednesday reported a drop in the percentage of people who are defaulting on repaying student loans in the first years after they are due.

More than 4.7 million borrowers began paying back in the 2011 budget year, and about 650,000 have defaulted, which is about 13.7 percent. A year earlier, the rate was 14.7 percent.

If the default rate for students at a specific school is too high, then students there could be barred from participating in federal financial aid programs.

Also Wednesday, the Census Bureau said that college enrollment declined by nearly a half-million students between 2012 and 2013, marking the second year in a row for a large decrease.

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