Student loan default rates don’t tell the whole story

This week, the U.S. Department of Education will release data on the percentage of borrowers who have defaulted on federal student loans over the last three years. Schools with high rates of default face consequences. There are new standards. According to Nick Hillman, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education, a college doesn?t want its default rate to hit 40 percent a year, or 30 percent over three years.