ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 28, 1996 TAG: 9603280055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Small, for-profit trade schools in Virginia such as beauty academies continue to show the highest rates for defaulting on education loans, a survey of federal data shows.
Of the 40 schools in Virginia with the highest loan default rates for 1993, 31 were proprietary trade schools, according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Education.
The Portsmouth School of Beauty Culture in Portsmouth had a student-loan default rate of 46.1 percent, the state's highest, the government figures showed. Flair Beauty School of Petersburg had a 45.5 percent default rate, the second-highest, followed by the Colonial Heights Beauty Academy of in suburban Richmond at 41.9 percent.
The government figures for Virginia included 129 schools, including proprietary schools, publicly supported colleges and universities and private colleges.
Lord Fairfax Community College, a two-year college in Middletown, had a default rate of 32.4 percent, the highest among public schools and the ninth-highest overall, according to the government figures.
Eastern Shore Community College at Melfa had the second-highest rate among public schools at 29.5 percent and was 13th overall. The 26.1 percent rate at John Tyler Community College in Chester was third-worst among public schools and 18th-highest overall.
Sixteen schools had no defaults at all, most of them medical schools or medical specialty training centers.
The University of Virginia had a 2.2 percent rate.
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB