<P> Since data collection began in 1987, the highest two - year default rate recorded was 22.4 percent in 1990 . In 2012, the U.S. Department of Education released detailed federal student loan default rates including, for the first time, three - year default rates . For - profit institutions had the highest average three - year default rates at 22.7 percent while public institutions rates were 11 percent and private non-profit institutions at 7.5 percent . More than 3.6 million borrowers from over 5,900 schools entered repayment during 2008 - 2009, and approximately 489,000 of them defaulted . For - profit colleges account for 10 percent of enrolled students but 44 percent of student loan defaults . </P> <P> In 2011, the Project on Student Debt reported that approximately two - thirds of students who graduated with bachelor's degrees from 4 - year nonprofit universities had taken out student loans with an average debt of $25,250, an overall rise of five percent from 2009 . In 2010 student loan debt surpassed' Credit Card' debt . Student debt in the United States has reached $1 trillion, almost a 50% increase from 2008 . As a result of the student loan and tuition crisis, studies have shown that students are experiencing stress under the current economic downturn and fiscal challenges . </P> <P> In his 2012 State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama addressed the rising cost of higher education in the United States . Through an executive order in 2011, President Obama laid out a student loan plan, "Pay as you Earn," that allows former students to pay education debts as a percentage of their incomes . Furthermore, the Obama administration has developed a standardized letter to be sent to admitted students indicating the cost of attendance at an institution, including all net costs as well as financial aid received . Use of the letter is not mandatory . </P>

The growing cost of tuition at public universities in the united states is directly related to