One in three student loan borrowers risk default as delinquency rates soar

Sharp rise in delinquency comes after education department resumed collections on defaulted federal loans

Nearly one in three federal student loan borrowers are at risk of defaulting on payments as early as July, as delinquency and default rates soar in the wake of pandemic-era repayment relief ending.

About 5.8 million federal student loan borrowers were 90 days or more past due on their payments as of April 2025, according to a new analysis from TransUnion. That's roughly 31% of borrowers with a payment due, up from 20.5% in February and nearly triple the 11.7% delinquency rate reported in February 2020, just before the pandemic began. The April figure represents the highest delinquency rate ever recorded.