WASHINGTON — The Education Department on Wednesday reported a drop in the percentage of people who are defaulting on repaying student loans in the first years after they are due.

More than 4.7 million borrowers began paying back in the 2011 budget year, and about 650,000 have defaulted, which is about 13.7 percent. A year earlier, the rate was 14.7 percent.

In Maine, the overall default rate is 12.8 percent, or 2,301 borrowers in default out of 17,958 borrowers making payments. Students at 38 schools use the federal student loan program.

If the default rate for students at a specific school is too high, then students there could be barred from participating in federal financial aid programs.

The borrowers attended about 5,900 U.S. schools.

“We will also continue working with institutions to ensure they are providing their students with the information and guidance the students need to repay their loans after they graduate,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement.

For-profit institutions had the highest default rate, 19.1 percent, which dropped from 21.8 percent a year earlier.

Mirroring the national rate, private for-profit schools in Maine generally had higher default rates than public schools.

The rate at public schools was 12.9 percent, compared with 13 percent a year earlier. It was 7.2 percent for private nonprofit schools, a decrease from 8.2 percent.

The department said it was taking action against one adult and continuing education school and 20 for-profit schools. Many are cosmetology schools.

Also Wednesday, the Census Bureau said that college enrollment declined by nearly a half-million students between 2012 and 2013.