The U.S. Department of Education released official FY2010 two-year and official FY2009 three-year federal student loan cohort default rates marking the first official 3-year rate published.  The press release indicated a 13.4% CDR nationally, which was a slight decrease from the 13.8% FY2008 cohort.  CDRs decreased for for-profit institutions from 15% to 12.9%. 

Are the new federal regulations proving to have the desired effect of lowering CDRs, or are there other variables to consider?