At South Mountain Community College, 33 percent of borrowers who started repaying student loans in 2014 defaulted on those loans by the end of 2016, according to the latest disclosure from the U.S. Department of Education.
The data includes two-year public colleges. The Federal Student Aid Office compiles data on schools receiving federal student aid who entered repayment on selected federal loans in the given fiscal year and defaulted before the end of the second fiscal year.
In total, 22 two-year institutions based in Arizona reported 46,656 students entered repayment on student loans in 2014. And 9,582 – or 20.5 percent, above the national rate of 11.5 percent – defaulted on those loans
Arizona 2-year schools with highest default rates
| Rank | School | City | Number of Borrowers in Repay | Number of Borrowers in Default | Default Rate (%) |
| 1 | South Mountain Community College | Phoenix | 1,029 | 343 | 33.3 |
| 2 | Phoenix College | Phoenix | 3,145 | 975 | 31.0 |
| 3 | Yavapai College | Prescott | 771 | 197 | 25.5 |
| 4 | Gateway Community College | Phoenix | 1,578 | 390 | 24.7 |
| 5 | Mesa Community College | Mesa | 5,033 | 1,152 | 22.8 |
| 6 | Central Arizona College | Coolidge | 1,008 | 227 | 22.5 |
| 7 | Estrella Mountain Community College | Avondale | 1,688 | 380 | 22.5 |
| 8 | Rio Salado Community College | Tempe | 4,991 | 1,095 | 21.9 |
| 9 | Glendale Community College | Glendale | 3,495 | 715 | 20.4 |
| 10 | Paradise Valley Community College | Phoenix | 1,266 | 249 | 19.6 |
| 11 | Pima County Community College | Tucson | 4,037 | 780 | 19.3 |
| 12 | Scottsdale Community College | Scottsdale | 1,574 | 302 | 19.1 |
| 13 | Carrington College | Phoenix | 2,400 | 458 | 19.0 |
| 14 | Universal Technical Institute | Phoenix | 4,453 | 819 | 18.3 |
| 15 | Coconino County Community College | Flagstaff | 492 | 89 | 18.0 |
| 16 | Mohave Community College | Kingman | 869 | 152 | 17.4 |
| 17 | Chandler - Gilbert Community College | Chandler | 1,752 | 304 | 17.3 |
| 18 | Arizona Western College | Yuma | 390 | 67 | 17.1 |
| 19 | Universal Technical Institute | Avondale | 5,456 | 760 | 13.9 |
| 20 | Southwest Institute Of Healing Arts | Tempe | 554 | 75 | 13.5 |
| 21 | Refrigeration School (The) | Phoenix | 413 | 37 | 8.9 |
| 22 | Cochise College | Sierra Vista | 262 | 16 | 6.1 |