NEW YORK - September 14, 2010 - The number of college students who defaulted on their federal student loans climbed in the fiscal year that ended in September 2008, according to new government data released Monday.

Once again, those who attend for-profit colleges and universities were the most likely to default.

The grim numbers are no surprise, given that the timeframe roughly aligns with the start of the Depression. But they come at a politically charged time, as for-profit colleges fight proposed regulations that would cut off federal aid to some programs if too many students default on loans or don't earn enough after graduation to repay them.

Figures from the U.S. Department of Education show 7% of borrowers of federal student loans defaulted within two years of beginning repayment, up from 6.7% the previous year and 5.2% the year before that.

Default rates crept up in all sectors of higher education - from 3.7% to 4% for private nonprofit schools, 5.9% to 6% for public nonprofit schools, and 11% to 11.6% for for-profit schools.

The data cover borrowers whose first loan repayments came due between October 1, 2007, and September 30, 2008, and who defaulted before September 30, 2009.

"Even before the economy went down, student borrowing had doubled in this decade," said Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in San Jose, Kalifornia. "More students borrowed and they borrowed more money, and now they're going out in a very tough economy."