Share of Student Loan Balances 90+ Days Delinquent
Share of student loan balances 90+ days past due
What is the current Share of Student Loan Balances 90+ Days Delinquent reading?
In Q2 2026, 10.6% of student loan balances were 90 or more days delinquent, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Consumer Credit Panel, up from 10.16% a year earlier. This is a share of balances, not of borrowers. Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York Household Debt and Credit Report (Q2 2026).
Measurement basis: Percent of outstanding student loan balances that are 90 or more days delinquent, using the "STUDENT LOAN" series in the New York Fed table "Percent of Balance 90+ Days Delinquent by Loan Type" (unit: Percent; source: New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax). This is a balance-level rate, not a share of borrowers.
The share of student loan balances 90 or more days late was 10.6% in Q2 2026, up from 10.16% a year earlier.
The New York Fed's Household Debt and Credit Report put the share of student loan balances 90 or more days late at 10.6% in Q2 2026, up from 10.16% a year earlier. The share rose from 10.34% in Q1 2026, but the series is not seasonally adjusted, so a one-quarter move is partly seasonal. That is the highest share since late federal loans went back on credit reports in 2025.
In the first quarter of 2020 the share was 10.75%. From the second quarter the Education Department reported paused federal loans as current, and the share was 6.97%. In late 2022 the Fresh Start program marked defaulted federal loans current, and the share was 0.87%. Missed payments stayed off credit reports through September 2024. Late federal loans were reported again in the first quarter of 2025, when the share was 7.74%, against 0.53% a quarter before. The comparisons on this page start with that quarter, because the pause years are not a clean read of repayment.
The rate spreads late dollars over all student loan balances, including loans in school, deferment, forbearance or on $0 payment plans, which cannot go late. About 7 million borrowers from the defunct SAVE plan were in a litigation forbearance at the New York Fed's May 2026 count and could not go late while in it. So the rate is not the share of borrowers who are behind: the New York Fed found 23.7% of borrowers with a payment due were behind in the first quarter of 2025.
For the fourth quarter of 2025 the New York Fed carried over the prior quarter's balance and late status for about one million borrowers whose loans were transferred to the Education Department's Default Resolution Group, so that quarter is left out of the comparisons. In August 2026 it said re-reporting of defaulted loans was still distorting the figures. Balances 90 or more days late mix loans 90 to 269 days behind with defaulted loans still on credit reports, so this is not a default rate. Late payments on other debts are tracked in Credit Card Delinquency and Auto Loan Serious Delinquency.
Explore Further
Share of Student Loan Balances 90+ Days Delinquent over time: what has changed?
Counties with the highest delinquency scores
These are delinquency scores from our County Distress Index, not county readings of Share of Student Loan Balances 90+ Days Delinquent.
Explore all 3,144 counties →| Period | Value | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 10.6% | +0.44 pp |
| Q1 2026 | 10.34% | +2.6 pp |
| Q4 2025 | 9.57% | — |
| Q3 2025 | 9.36% | — |
| Q2 2025 | 10.16% | — |
| Q1 2025 | 7.74% | — |
| Q4 2024 | 0.53% | -0.07 pp |
| Q3 2024 | 0.49% | -0.18 pp |
| Q2 2024 | 0.65% | +0.02 pp |
| Q1 2024 | 0.62% | -0.05 pp |
| Q4 2023 | 0.6% | -0.27 pp |
| Q3 2023 | 0.67% | — |
How to read this series
The source changed how it measures this in Q3 2012. The New York Fed says about $19 billion of previously defaulted student loans were newly updated on credit reports in the third quarter of 2012, which boosted the share of balances 90 or more days late. Readings on either side are not directly comparable, so the year-over-year column stays blank where a comparison would cross that date. Source documentation.
The source changed how it measures this in Q2 2020. From the second quarter of 2020 the Education Department reported federal loans eligible for the pandemic payment pause as current, which the New York Fed says caused that quarter's sharp drop in student-loan delinquency. Readings on either side are not directly comparable, so the year-over-year column stays blank where a comparison would cross that date. Source documentation.
The source changed how it measures this in Q4 2022. In the fourth quarter of 2022 the Education Department's Fresh Start program marked defaulted federal student loans as current, which the New York Fed tied to that quarter's drop in reported delinquency. Readings on either side are not directly comparable, so the year-over-year column stays blank where a comparison would cross that date. Source documentation.
The source changed how it measures this in Q1 2025. In the first quarter of 2025 the New York Fed says missed federal student-loan payments that had not been reported between 2020 and 2024 began appearing on credit reports, so readings from then on are on a new basis. Readings on either side are not directly comparable, so the year-over-year column stays blank where a comparison would cross that date. Source documentation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the student loan serious delinquency rate?
It is the share of student loan balances that are 90 or more days past due. In Q2 2026, 10.6% of student loan balances were seriously delinquent, according to the New York Fed, up from 10.16% a year earlier.
Why was the rate so low from late 2022 through 2024?
Reporting policy, not repayment. The Education Department reported paused federal loans as current from 2020, the Fresh Start program marked defaulted federal loans current in late 2022, and missed payments stayed off credit reports through September 30, 2024. What was left came from private and commercially held federal loans.
Is this the share of borrowers who are behind?
No. It is a share of balances, and the balances include loans in school, deferment or forbearance that cannot go late. The New York Fed found 23.7% of borrowers with a payment due were behind in the first quarter of 2025.
Where does the student loan delinquency data come from?
The New York Fed's Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, built from Equifax credit reports. Student loans use a 1% random sample of people with credit reports. It is published quarterly.
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