The Department of Education reported that the default rate for federal student loans increased to 8.8 percent in 2009, up from 7 percent in 2008. Students at for-profit schools posted the highest default rate, 15 percent, followed by public institutions at 7.2 percent and 4.6 percent for private institutions.

"These hard economic times have made it even more difficult for student borrowers to repay their loans, and that's why implementing education reforms and protecting the maximum Pell grant is more important than ever," said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

U.S., Finland lead in IT competitiveness

The United States retained its position as the world's most competitive nation in information technology in rankings developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit for the Business Software Alliance.

The study, which is conducted every two years, ranked 66 countries on indicators that included IT innovation, overall business environment, IT infrastructure, human capital, research and development, legal environment and public support for industry development.

Finland was No. 2, followed by Singapore, which climbed six places in the rankings since 2009. Sweden was next, followed by the United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada, Ireland, Australia, the Netherlands and Israel.

The biggest chart movers were Malaysia, which moved from No. 42 to No. 31 on the list, thanks to a surge in R&D activity, and India, which jumped 10 places to No. 34, thanks to R&D and human capital. China gained only one spot, to No. 38 - mainly due to its weak enforcement of intellectual property rights.

BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman said the study shows "investing in the fundamentals of technology innovation will pay huge dividends over the long term."

IRS offers a deal on  worker misclassification

The Internal Revenue Service will give a break to businesses that misclassified employees as independent contractors in the past if they reclassify them as employees going forward.

The IRS will allow such businesses to pay a minimum payment covering past payroll tax obligations for these employees instead of waiting for an IRS audit. The payment will equal just over 1 percent of the wages paid to the reclassified workers for the past year. No interest or penalties will be due.

To be eligible for this relief, employers must have consistently treated the workers as nonemployees in the past and filed 1099 forms for them for the previous three years. Businesses that are currently being audited by the IRS, the Department of Labor or a state government over worker classification issues are not eligible.