Hurricanes Blamed for 13-Percent Jump in Student-Loan Default Rate

The government's measure of the rate at which college students default on their federally subsidized loans rose nearly 13 percent in 2006, with much of the increase attributed to economic troubles in states affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

A total of 204,507 borrowers, who had been due to begin repaying their federally subsidized loans in the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2006, defaulted within two years, the Education Department said in announcing its annual "

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