As defaults on student loans surge, millions are trying to get their lives back on track
Millions of borrowers are now more than nine months behind, and federal data show 76% of top nonpayment schools are for-profit colleges.
- Approximately 9.5 million federal student loan borrowers are now in default, surging by more than 4.2 million since April 2025. This represents $233.3 billion in unpaid debt out of $1.7 trillion in nationwide federally backed loans.
- Defaults accelerated after the pandemic-era payment pause ended in fall 2024, allowing loans to enter default after nine months of missed payments. The Trump administration then eliminated the Saving on a Valuable Education plan as part of its system overhaul.
- Data shows 33% of borrowers at for-profit schools are at least 90 days late on payments, more than double the public-school rate. Psychiatric nurse practitioner Barbara Howaniec from Auburn, Maine, borrowed around $62,000 but after two decades of payments still owes around $67,000 with interest.
- Mental health worker Shannon Khan from Webster, Texas, faces monthly payments jumping to $1,683 after enrollment in SAVE ended last fall. While the Trump administration temporarily paused involuntary collections, borrowers remain anxious about wage garnishment and Social Security payment seizures.
- Mississippi reports the nation's highest default rate at 28.3%, with regional disparities concentrated in the South. Alan Collinge, founder of Student Loan Justice, said "I am seeing despair and outrage and despondency and just a very wide mix of pretty extreme emotions, the likes of which I have not seen before.
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Are Your Student Loans In Default? Here's What's Happening
Source: intek1 / Getty As a result of the Trump administration ending pandemic-era protections, student loan defaults have surged over the last year. According to AP, one in five federal student loan borrowers is currently in default on their loans. That means 9.5 million people are currently behind on their student loan payments by nine months or more. Out of $1.7 trillion in federally backed student loans nationwide, $233.3 billion is in defau…
Student loan default rates surge, 1 in 5 borrowers now in default
Student loan defaults are up to a record high, with 9.5 million borrowers in default, meaning they are more than 270 days behind on loan payments, according to data from the Office of Federal Student Aid. The near-10 million borrowers in default represent a record-high and nearly double the number in default at the nadir of a pandemic-prompted moratorium on student loan payments enacted by former President Joe Biden. In March 2025, months after …
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