PORTLAND — Maine’s community college and private trade school students are more likely to default on federal student loans than students at four-year universities.

The Portland Press Herald reports that federal Department of Education data says Maine’s 2011 default rate was 12.8 percent. That is slightly less than the national 13.7 percent rate, which is also a drop from the 14.7 percent rate in 2010.

The highest default rate in Maine was 29.5 percent at Washington County Community College. Four of the state’s six private for-profit trade schools have default rates over 21 percent.

The default rate at the main University of Maine campus in Orono was 6.3 percent.

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