HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Student Loan Default Rates Continue Climb, Mostly. “Just over 9 percent of students default on their federal student loans in the first two years after they begin paying them back, and 13.4 percent default in the first three years, according to data released Friday by the Education Department.”

UPDATE: A reader emails:

Professor Reynolds:

Thought I’d chime in on the subject since I am kind of the target demo (28; paid for my liberal arts degree from a state school with loans; ~20k remaining).

I haven’t defaulted on any of my loans (and won’t), but I have used some of the many forbearance and deferment options available to stop payments from time to time. I’ve had trouble keeping steady work, and even though I’m already making low payments my Sallie Mae loan is the easiest bill to not have to pay — I submit one form and get 3-6 months of not paying that note. It even disappears from my credit report with no apparent deleterious effect.

I’m baffled as to why anyone would outright default when you can easily get years of deferments, and even capitalize the relatively small accrued interest… and I’d be interested to see the number of forbearances and deferments at any given period of time. I know they drag out my repayment term significantly.

I’m not embarrassed by any political stance, but I still need to be able to get a date from a hot insta-reader, so please withhold my name.

P.S. #reynolds2016

Just bear in mind that usually interest continues to accumulate, driving your balance up. That’s more likely to put off a “hot insta-reader” than the sentiments above. Say, should I start an InstaPundit dating service? We’ve already had a few insta-reader marriages over the years. . . .