"Utah's student-loan default rate has slipped to the nation's lowest, thanks in large part to an intervention program that helps delinquent borrowers stay current on payments," the Salt Lake Tribune reports. "State higher education officials contend the program has more than halved the default rate, now at 2.1 percent for students who left school in 2007. The Utah default rate, which is less than a third the national average, is exhibit A in their argument for preserving the states' endangered role in servicing student loans."