Student Loan Debt Statistics 2026

Student loan balances decreased by $7 billion and stood at $1.65 trillion.

Today, the outstanding federal student loan portfolio includes 42.3 million recipients with federal student loans totaling more than $1.7 trillion, which represents a nearly four-percent dollar increase from June 2025.

The report shows total household debt decreased by $13 billion, a 0.1% decrease, in Q2 2026, to $18.8 trillion.

ED is directly responsible for managing 40.5 million recipient accounts with outstanding loans totaling more than $1.64 trillion across the Direct Loan and ED-held FFEL portfolios.

As of June 2025, 32% of borrowers owed less than $10,000 and 21% owed between $10,000 and $20,000 in federal loan debt.

Among those who attended at least some college, 21 percent had outstanding loans.

Race/ethnicity White 14 Black 28 Hispanic 15 Asian 12

Student Debt $29,560: The average amount borrowed by 2023-24 bachelor’s degree recipients who took out loans to pay for college.

Loans $102.6 billion: The total amount that parents and students borrowed in federal and nonfederal loans to pay for postsecondary education in 2024-25.

After declining by 38% over 13 years, from $163.9 billion (in 2024 dollars) in 2010-11 to $101.4 billion in 2023-24, total annual borrowing increased to $102.6 billion in 2024-25 (1.2% year-over-year increase).

During the 2025-2026 academic year (AY), undergraduate families spent an average of $34,019 on college, representing a 10% increase from $30,837 in AY 2024-2025.

Student borrowing accounted for 11% ($3,793), and parent borrowing covered 11% ($3,734).

74% of college families completed the FAFSA ® for the 2025-2026 academic year, returning to submission levels observed two years ago and up 3pp from last year.

For 2015–16 bachelor’s degree completers who had ever received federal student loans, the average amount borrowed as of 2020 was $45,300.

The student loan delinquency rate increased to 10.6% of balances 90+ days past due, up from the 10.3% observed in 2026Q1.

The student loan transition rate into serious delinquency, measured as a four-quarter moving sum, declined from 16.2% in Q4 2025 to 10.9% this quarter, reflecting a slower pace of new student loan delinquencies in the first quarter relative to the previous year.

The June 2026 reports show that more than 80 percent of ED-serviced recipients with loans in active repayment are current (on time or less than 31 days delinquent) on their federal student loan payments.

However, this means that nearly 20 percent of recipients, or about 3.5 million recipients, are more than 30 days delinquent on their accounts.

The active repayment 31+ delinquency rate is 15.7 percent by total dollar balance, compared to 12.7 percent in December 2019, the last quarter prior to the federal student loan payment pause.

More than 17.4 million recipients, or about 43 percent of the 40.5 million recipients, have at least one loan in a current repayment or delinquency status.

Hence, a total of 41 percent of those required to make payments (23 percent of adults with student loan debt) recently had payment difficulties.

Less than half of low-income borrowers with an income under $50,000 per year paid the required amount, compared with 92 percent of borrowers with an income of $100,000 or more who did so

Collectively, 76 percent of borrowers who experienced difficulty repaying their loans had an affordability challenge

The analysis found that 20.5% of federal student loan borrowers with a payment due are 90 days or more past due (90+ DPD) as reported by their servicer through February 2025.

Across risk tiers, subprime saw the highest percentage of payment-due student loan borrowers seriously delinquent in February 2025, with 51% at 90+ DPD, up from 39% in February 2020.

This quarter, the cumulative number of recipients in default increased by approximately 400,000 to more than 9.3 million.

Their outstanding federal student loans total $234 billion or approximately 14 percent of the total $1.64 trillion federally managed portfolio as of June 2026.

This includes approximately 1.5 million recipients in late-stage delinquency who are at risk of entering the defaulted portfolio in the next six months.

We estimate that roughly 1 million federal student loan borrowers defaulted during 2025:Q4, with an additional 2.6 million borrowers defaulting during 2026:Q1.

Approximately 2.6 million student loan borrowers who were more than 120 days past due had their loans transferred to the U.S Department of Education’s Default Resolution Group.

On average, credit scores for defaulted borrowers dropped 91 points between 2024:Q3 and 2025:Q4 (from 567 to 476; credit scores are Equifax Risk Score 3.0).

Borrowers who recently defaulted are 2.5 years older on average than those in default prior to the pandemic (38.9 years compared to 36.4 years).

But they now have very high delinquency rates across all credit products: nearly 40 percent of those with auto loans are past due, 56 percent of those with at least one credit card are past due, and 20 percent with a mortgage are past due.

Approximately 13 million Direct Loan and ED-serviced FFEL borrowers in repayment, deferment, or forbearance statuses are enrolled in an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan.

In terms of dollars (total balance), 62 percent of the ED-serviced (Direct Loan and ED-serviced FFEL) repayment plan universe is in an IDR plan, an increase from 56 percent in June 2025.

Over the last year, the total of ED-serviced (Direct Loan and ED-serviced FFEL) balances in IDR plans increased from $740 billion to $792 billion.

With more than 40 repayment and discharge options available, it is no surprise that 70 percent of borrowers report feeling overwhelmed when trying to manage their loans.

In fact, student loan portfolio data show that 3 out of 4 borrowers in income-driven repayment plans owe more than they originally borrowed 6 years after entering repayment.

Monthly payments are between 1 and 10 percent of a borrower’s income, depending on how much they earn.

About half of student loan borrowers with an associate degree (49%) or bachelor’s degree (53%) say they have delayed major life plans such as saving for retirement or continuing their education because of student loan debt.

More than 80% of borrowers with outstanding loan debt worry about being able to make their payments.

About one in three graduates who borrowed less than $10,000 (32%) say they have delayed at least one major life event.

The total higher education loan balance has increased from £54.4 billion in financial year 2013-14, to £294.6 billion by 2025-26.

When comparing this figure to the 2024-25 year-end total of £266.6 billion, there has been an increase of 10.5% (+ £28.0 billion).

Figure 4 shows that the total amount paid out in the form of undergraduate ICR Loans has increased from £9.0 billion in financial year 2013-14, to £20.5 billion by 2025-26.

The average debt among borrowers who finished their course in 2023 was £47,900 when they first became liable to repay this debt (April 2026).

Of full-time undergraduate higher education students starting in academic year 2025/26, 55% are expected to repay their loan in full.

On average undergraduate higher education borrowers starting their studies in academic year 2025/26 are forecast to enter repayment with an average debt of £45,800, equivalent to £40,800 in financial year 2025-26 prices.

Over the course of their loan term, they are expected to repay on average 69% of the loan outlay borrowed (in real terms), at a total of £27,900 in repayments in financial year 2025-26 prices.