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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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58 Articles
58 Articles
Millions try to get their lives back on track, as defaults on student loans surge
Hundreds of thousands more are months behind on payments, and another surge in defaults could be on the way. Millions of borrowers are facing higher monthly payments as the government dismantles its most affordable income-driven repayment option, the SAVE plan, one of several changes the Education Department says are intended to simplify a fragmented system.
·New York, United States
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Defaults on student loans surge across the United States, reaching record levels as borrowers struggle to keep up with payments
According to a CBS News report, student loan defaults across the United States have reached unprecedented highs as borrowers grapple with resumed payments after a multi-year pause tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Roughly 9.5 million federal student loan borrowers — about one in five — are now in default, defined as being more than nine […]
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Total News Sources58
Leaning Left24Leaning Right8Center23Last UpdatedBias Distribution44% Left
Bias Distribution
- 44% of the sources lean Left
44% Left
L 44%
C 42%
14%
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