I decided to do a little data mashup of Community College Week’s 2013 list of the top community colleges, published on June 24, 2013, and the federal student aid database of default rates. Here is a list of the top 10 producers of associates degrees and their average default rate on student loans over the past three years.
| Rank | 2013 top producers of 2-year associates degrees | FY 09 3-year default rate |
| 1 | Ivy Tech Community College, Ind. | 20.2% |
| 2 | Northern Virginia Community College, Va. | 12.3% |
| 3 | Lone Star College System, Tex. | 17.7% |
| 4 | Houston Community College, Tex. | 21.9% |
| 5 | Hillsborough Community College, Fla. | 16.3% |
| 6 | El Paso Community College, Tex. | 14.7% |
| 7 | Salt Lake Community College, Utah | 10.6% |
| 8 | Suffolk County Community College, NY | 16.4% |
| 9 | Tarrant County College District, Tex. | 16.3% |
| 10 | Tallahassee Community College, Fla. | 25.9% |
Ivy Tech produced almost 9,000 associates degrees. And based on recent history, more than 1800 of these students will likely default on their federal student loans. Salt Lake Community College, at number seven, generates lot of diplomas too, but they’ve managed to keep their default rate closer to a respectable 10 percent.
Tallahassee Community College, at number 10, is in danger of losing its eligibility for federal student loans with its default rate topping 25 percent.
