Student Loan Default rate 2-3 times higher than reported

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

How many student borrowers can't pay back their loans?

It's two to three times more than commonly reported.

According to the U.S. Education Department, just 5.1 percent of student loans go into default, defined as when a borrower doesn't make any payments for nine straight months. That's down from 22 percent 15 years ago. But the actual current figure is higher, because the commonly reported figure refers only to loans that go bad within two years of a student's leaving school.

When looking at the entire life of the loan, the actual default rate is estimated at 16.65 percent for student loans made directly from the government, according to the White House budget office. It's 11.7 percent for the Federal Family Education Loan program.

Just think,many so called "progressives" want a nationalization of student loans.