Student loan default rates soar in Colorado

By Allison Sherry. At more than two dozen public, private and for-profit colleges in Colorado, thousands of former students have stopped paying on their federal student loans — and at least one school faces federal sanctions because the default rate is so high. Schools blame the state's soft economy for the growing default rates among students attending all kinds of schools in Colorado. Just over 8,800 Colorado students, or 10.1 percent, failed to make an on-time repayment on a federal loan for nine consecutive months, according to 2010 data, the most recent available. The rate tops the national rate of 9.1 percent. More...