BUSINESS BRIEFING / EDUCATION
Times Wire Services
Default rates among people who recently began paying off student loans jumped to 6.7% last year, the highest since 1998, from 5.2% as borrowers felt early effects of the recession, the U.S. government said.
The default rate is based on borrowers who were to start repaying their loans from Oct. 1, 2006, to Sept. 30, 2007, and had fallen at least nine months behind by Sept. 30, 2008.
The House of Representatives is preparing to vote this week on President Obama’s plan to end federal guarantees and subsidies to student-loan providers such as Sallie Mae Inc. and Nelnet Inc.
