Recent troubling news from the U.S. Department of Education revealed that a full 10 percent of borrowers are now defaulting on their student loans within two years of starting to repay them, and 15 percent are defaulting within three years.

These figures, released as part of a larger set of data on student debt, are not terribly surprising. Default rates have grown steadily over the past decade, helped in part by the weak economy and congressional inaction on student debt.