What do you get when you combine a rocky job market with soaring student debt? Student loan defaults—now at the highest level in more than a decade.

That shouldn't come as much of a surprise. This year's grads are facing hiring freezes, and many of last year's have been laid off or are still struggling to find well-paying jobs.

But the news isn't all bad: Big changes were made this month to the federal student loan programs, and they're going to be a huge boon not only to recent grads, but to current students as well.

Here's what you need to know.